Transmission actuator support structure for vehicle automated driving device

ABSTRACT

A transmission actuator unit (131) configured by combination of a selecting actuator (133) and a shifting actuator (134) is mounted on an upper surface of a connection box unit (101). A connection box frame (102) is slidably supported along guide rails (20) between a pair of main beams (15a) of a slanting frame (11). By sliding the connection box unit (101), it is possible to adjust a height position of the transmission actuator unit (131) to a height position of a shift lever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an automatic vehicle driving devicethat performs a shift-lever operation of a transmission etc., forinstance, when carrying out a running test of a vehicle on a chassisdynamometer, and more particularly to a support structure of atransmission actuator of the automatic vehicle driving device.

BACKGROUND ART

When carrying out a running test of a vehicle on a chassis dynamometer,an automatic vehicle driving device that performs a pedal operation anda shift-lever operation of the vehicle in place of a driver is generallyused. To perform the shift-lever operation, the automatic vehicledriving device has a transmission actuator.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 each disclose, as a transmission actuator, aconfiguration in which a lateral-direction actuator that actuates ashift lever along a vehicle width direction and a longitudinal-directionactuator that actuates the shift lever along a vehicle longitudinaldirection are combined. This transmission actuator is fixed to an uppersurface of a base mounted on a driver's seat of the vehicle.

In Patent Document 1, a block is provided on the upper surface of thebase so as to allow adjustment of a fore-and-aft position of the block,and the transmission actuator is fixed to a member that is supported onthe block so as to be able to tilt or rotate. With this configuration,the transmission actuator can be fixed with the transmission actuatortilting as a whole.

In Patent Document 2, a cylindrical columnar member is provided on theupper surface of the base so as to allow adjustment of a lateralposition of the cylindrical columnar member, and the transmissionactuator is supported by the cylindrical columnar member standing in avertical position through a pin member. The pin member is engaged withone of through holes of the cylindrical columnar member. By engaging thepin member with one of the through holes arranged at different heightpositions, a height position of the transmission actuator can bechanged.

In the configuration of Patent Document 1, by tilting the transmissionactuator, the transmission actuator meets the shift levers of differentheight positions. However, when the transmission actuator tilts,operation or movement of the transmission actuator becomes unstable byits own weight, which is undesirable.

In the configuration of Patent Document 2, since the height position ofthe transmission actuator is fixed by the positions of the through holesspaced at a certain distance at the cylindrical columnar member,seamless or continuous height position adjustment of the transmissionactuator is impossible. Further, since the heavy transmission actuatoris supported as a whole by the cylindrical columnar member by theso-called cantilever structure, rigidity of the support of thecylindrical columnar member is lowered, and consequently, for instance,vibrations tend to occur at a hand portion located at a top end of thetransmission actuator.

CITATION LIST Patent Document

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application    Publication No. 2000-352548-   Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application    Publication No. 2003-014588

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A support structure of a transmission actuator of an automatic vehicledriving device according to the present invention comprises: a framehaving, at an upper end thereof, a seat back abutting part and at leastat a middle portion thereof, a pair of right and left straight beams andextending obliquely downward from the seat back abutting part toward avehicle front side; a movable frame located at an inner side of theframe and slidably supported by the pair of beams along a slope of thebeams; a lock mechanism structured to fix the movable frame, having beenslid, to the frame; and a transmission actuator supported on the movableframe and configured to be able to operate a shift lever along at leasta vehicle longitudinal direction.

That is, in this configuration, the frame is settled above a driver'sseat so as to extend obliquely downward, and the movable frame can beslid along the pair of right and left straight beams of the frame. Sincethe straight beams slope obliquely, by sliding the movable frame, aheight position of the movable frame, i.e. a height position of thetransmission actuator, is changed. With this, the transmission actuatorcan meet a variety of shift levers of different height positions.

Since the movable frame can slide along a slope angle of the beams, onlya component of force of gravity of the whole movable frame including thetransmission actuator etc. acts on the lock mechanism for fixing themovable frame. Therefore, continuous or seamless height positionadjustment is basically possible. As a matter of course, the lockmechanism could be a lock mechanism structured to lock the movable frameat spaced positions.

Here, when the position of the transmission actuator is set to be low,the transmission actuator is located at a relatively front side of thevehicle along the slope of the beams, whereas when the position of thetransmission actuator is set to be high, the transmission actuator islocated at a relatively rear side of the vehicle along the slope of thebeams. However, such change of forward-and-backward direction can beabsorbed by setting of an initial position of the transmission actuatorthat moves (actuates) in the forward and backward directions.

The movable frame is supported by the pair of beams at its both sides.Therefore, not only adjustment of the height position is possible, butalso high rigidity of the support is realized.

As one aspect of the present invention, the transmission actuator has afirst actuator supported on the movable frame and moving in a vehiclewidth direction; and a second actuator supported by a movable part ofthe first actuator and moving in the vehicle longitudinal direction,wherein the shift lever is connected to a movable part of the secondactuator.

By combination of these first and second actuators, it is possible tooperate the shift lever in an arbitrary direction offorward-and-backward and right-and-left directions.

As a preferable aspect of the present invention, the beams are eachprovided with a guide rail extending along the beams, and the movableframe is provided with sliders slidably combined with the respectiveguide rails.

As a far preferable aspect of the present invention, the guide rails arefixed to respective lower surfaces of the beams with their rail surfacesfacing toward a lower side.

Generally, rigidity and guiding accuracy in a width direction, i.e. in adirection along a fixing surface, of the guide rail in a guide mechanismstructured by combination of the guide rail and the slider are high.Therefore, by providing the pair of guide rails on the lower surfaces ofthe beams, rigidity of the support of the movable frame in the vehiclewidth direction can be high.

The lock mechanism is formed from, for instance, fixing screws thatpress the guide rails.

As one aspect of the present invention, the frame includes a main framehaving, at an upper end thereof, the seat back abutting part andextending obliquely downward from the seat back abutting part toward thevehicle front side; and a sub frame located at an inner side of the mainframe, and the beams are formed by the sub frame.

In this configuration, loads of the movable frame and the transmissionactuator are borne by the sub frame.

As a preferable aspect of the present invention, a connection box isprovided at a front end portion of the frame, and a second connectionbox is provided at the movable frame, and these two connection boxes areconnected through a flexible cable.

Further, as a preferable aspect of the present invention, a supportplate settled in a horizontal attitude is fixed to the movable frame,and the transmission actuator is fixed to an upper surface of thesupport plate.

Therefore, the height position adjustment of the transmission actuatorby the slide of the movable frame is performed with the transmissionactuator basically maintained in the horizontal attitude.

As another aspect of the present invention, the movable frame has a tiltmechanism structured to change an angle of the support plate.

For instance, in a vehicle type in which a short shift lever is providedon a dashboard in front of the driver's seat, there is a need to operatethe shift lever in an oblique direction. However, by the tilt mechanismbeing provided at the movable frame, it is possible to easily meet suchvehicle type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which an automaticvehicle driving device of the present invention is mounted on a driver'sseat.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing the state in which the automatic vehicledriving device is mounted on the driver's seat.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the state in which the automatic vehicledriving device is mounted on the driver's seat.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, viewed from below, showing the state inwhich the automatic vehicle driving device is mounted on the driver'sseat.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving device.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the automatic vehicle driving device.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a frame and legs.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the frame and thelegs.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which the frame ismounted on the driver's seat.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the state in which the frame is mountedon the driver's seat.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which a connection boxunit is mounted on the frame.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the connection box unit alone.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the connection boxunit.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving devicewhen the connection box unit is located at a high position.

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which atransmission actuator unit is dismounted from the connection box unit.

FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view, viewed from a differentdirection from FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view of the transmission actuator unit and theconnection box unit.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged sectional view of an A-part of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the transmission actuator unit.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view, viewed from a different direction fromFIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the transmissionactuator unit.

FIG. 22 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which ashifting actuator is dismounted from a selecting actuator.

FIG. 23 is an exploded perspective view, viewed from below.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving devicefor a left-hand drive vehicle.

FIG. 25 is a top view of the automatic vehicle driving device for theleft-hand drive vehicle.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the transmissionactuator unit for the left-hand drive vehicle.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view, viewed from a different direction fromFIG. 26, of the transmission actuator unit.

FIG. 28 is a longitudinal cross section of the shifting actuator.

FIG. 29 is a top view showing a modified example for a right-hand drivevehicle.

FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing a structure of a front end portionof the frame.

FIG. 31 is an exploded side view of a pedal actuator support and a pedalactuator.

FIG. 32 is an exploded perspective view of the pedal actuator supportand the pedal actuator.

FIG. 33 is an exploded perspective view, viewed from a differentdirection from FIG. 32.

FIG. 34 is a perspective view of the pedal actuator.

FIG. 35 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving devicewith the device turned upside down.

FIG. 36 is an enlarged view of a B-part of FIG. 35.

FIG. 37 is an enlarged view of a C-part of FIG. 35.

FIG. 38 is a perspective view of a clutch pedal actuator.

FIG. 39 is a side view of the clutch pedal actuator.

FIG. 40 is a side view of the clutch pedal actuator when its stroke ismaximum.

FIG. 41 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving deviceapplied to a vehicle with an automatic transmission.

FIG. 42 is a sectional view of a load-cell joint part of the pedalactuator.

FIG. 43 is a perspective view showing a state in which the automaticvehicle driving device according to a second embodiment is mounted onthe driver's seat.

FIG. 44 is a side view showing the state in which the automatic vehicledriving device according to the second embodiment is mounted on thedriver's seat.

FIG. 45 is a perspective view, viewed from below, showing the state inwhich the automatic vehicle driving device according to the secondembodiment is mounted on the driver's seat.

FIG. 46 is a top view showing the state in which the automatic vehicledriving device according to the second embodiment is mounted on thedriver's seat.

FIG. 47 is a top view of the automatic vehicle driving device of thesecond embodiment.

FIG. 48 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving device ofthe second embodiment.

FIG. 49 is a perspective view, viewed from a different direction, of theautomatic vehicle driving device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 50 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving device ofthe second embodiment with the transmission actuator unit and anaccelerator pedal actuator being dismounted.

FIG. 51 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the automaticvehicle driving device of the second embodiment with the transmissionactuator unit and the accelerator pedal actuator being dismounted.

FIG. 52 is a perspective view of the frame and the legs.

FIG. 53 is a side view of the frame and the legs.

FIG. 54 is a perspective view showing a state in which the frame ismounted on the driver's seat.

FIG. 55 is a perspective view of a movable unit.

FIG. 56 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the movable unit.

FIG. 57 is a local sectional view showing a state in which thetransmission actuator unit is dismounted from the movable unit.

FIG. 58 is a local sectional view showing a state in which thetransmission actuator unit is mounted on the movable unit.

FIG. 59 is a perspective view of the transmission actuator unit.

FIG. 60 is a perspective view, viewed from a different direction, of thetransmission actuator unit.

FIG. 61 is a front view of the transmission actuator unit.

FIG. 62 is a bottom view of the transmission actuator unit.

FIG. 63 is an exploded perspective view of the transmission actuatorunit.

FIG. 64 is an exploded perspective view, viewed from below, of thetransmission actuator unit.

FIG. 65 is a longitudinal cross section of the shifting actuator.

FIG. 66 is a sectional view of a principal part of the transmissionactuator unit, showing a stopper mechanism.

FIG. 67 is a sectional view, taken along a plane orthogonal to a stopperpin, of the principal part of the transmission actuator unit.

FIG. 68 is a top view of the automatic vehicle driving device of thesecond embodiment for the left-hand drive vehicle.

FIG. 69 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving device ofthe second embodiment for the left-hand drive vehicle.

FIG. 70 is a perspective view of a brake pedal actuator.

FIG. 71 is a side view of the brake pedal actuator.

FIG. 72 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the brake pedalactuator.

FIG. 73 is a perspective view of the pedal actuators with the pedalactuators fixed to a slide rail.

FIG. 74 is a perspective view of the slide rail and the pedal actuatorsupports.

FIG. 75 is a perspective view of pedal actuator support brackets.

FIG. 76 is a perspective view showing a state in which the pedalactuator support brackets are fixed to the pedal actuator supports.

FIG. 77 is an exploded sectional view of the pedal actuator support andthe pedal actuator support bracket.

FIG. 78 is a sectional view taken along a plane (a D-D line in FIG. 71)passing through a pivotal center of a support arm.

FIG. 79 is a sectional view taken along a plane passing through an axialcenter of a variable-length rod.

FIG. 80 is a perspective view of the automatic vehicle driving device ofthe second embodiment applied to the vehicle with the automatictransmission.

FIG. 81 is a side view showing a modified example of the movable unit.

FIG. 82 is a side view showing a tilted state of the movable unit of themodified example.

FIG. 83 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the tilted state ofthe movable unit.

FIG. 84 is a perspective view showing a modified example of a supportingpart of the shifting actuator.

FIG. 85 is a perspective view when the supporting part of the shiftingactuator is set to a high position.

FIG. 86 is a perspective view, viewed from below, of the transmissionactuator unit provided with the supporting part of the modified example.

FIG. 87 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the sliderail allowing height adjustment of the pedal actuator.

FIG. 88 is a perspective view of the frame provided with the slide railof the modified example.

FIG. 89 is a side view of the frame provided with the slide rail of themodified example.

EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail belowwith reference to the drawings.

[General Configuration of Automatic Vehicle Driving Device 1 of FirstEmbodiment]

FIGS. 1 to 4 show a state in which an automatic vehicle driving device 1according to the present invention is mounted above a driver's seat 2 ofa vehicle. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the automatic vehicle driving device 1 inits entirety with the device 1 dismounted from the vehicle. Thisautomatic vehicle driving device 1 is used when carrying out a runningtest of the vehicle on a chassis dynamometer (not shown). The automaticvehicle driving device 1 performs a pedal operation of an acceleratorpedal etc. and a shift-lever operation of a transmission by signals froman external controller placed outside the vehicle.

Here, as described later, the automatic vehicle driving device 1 of thepresent embodiment can be used for a vehicle with a manual transmissionhaving a clutch pedal and for a vehicle with an automatic transmissionhaving no clutch pedal. Further, the automatic vehicle driving device 1of the present embodiment can be applied to both of the so-calledright-hand drive vehicle in which the driver's seat is on a right sideof the vehicle and the shift-lever operation is done by driver's lefthand and the so-called left-hand drive vehicle in which the driver'sseat is on a left side of the vehicle and the shift-lever operation isdone by driver's right hand. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6illustrate an example of a configuration of the automatic vehicledriving device 1 applied to the right-hand drive vehicle with the manualtransmission having an accelerator pedal 45, a brake pedal 46 and aclutch pedal 47.

The driver's seat 2 is supported on a vehicle body floor 6 (see FIG. 3)through a fore-and-aft slide mechanism and an up-and-down movementmechanism (both not shown). The driver's seat 2 has a seat cushion 3forming a seat surface on which a driver is seated, a seat back 4supporting driver's back and a headrest 5 supporting driver's head. Theseat back 4 generally has the so-called reclining mechanism that allowsadjustment of a tilt angle of the seat back 4 with respect to the seatcushion 3.

The automatic vehicle driving device 1 is configured mainly from a frame11 extending obliquely or slantingly downward from a vicinity of anupper end part of the seat back 4 toward a vehicle front side, a pair oflegs 12 positioned at a front end of the frame 11 and extending downwardalong a front end of the seat cushion 3, three pedal actuators 41extending from the front end of the frame 11 to the vehicle front sideand operating the three pedals 45, 46 and 47 respectively, a connectionbox unit 101 supported with the connection box unit 101 floating fromthe seat cushion 3 and the seat back 4 in the middle of the frame 11 anda transmission actuator unit 131 mounted on an upper surface of theconnection box unit 101.

As the pedal actuators 41, they are an accelerator pedal actuator 41Athat operates the accelerator pedal 45, a brake pedal actuator 41B thatoperates the brake pedal 46 and a clutch pedal actuator 41C thatoperates the clutch pedal 47 (see FIGS. 2 and 4). Although these threepedal actuators 41 could have exactly the same structure, in the presentembodiment, by taking into account the fact that the clutch pedal 47moves along an arc and its stroke (a depressing operation amount) isrelatively large, the clutch pedal actuator 41C is different from theother two pedal actuators 41A and 41B in details of structure. Theaccelerator pedal actuator 41A and the brake pedal actuator 41B havesubstantially the same structure. Here, since a basic structure iscommon to the three pedal actuators 41, when there is no need todistinguish the three pedal actuators 41A, 41B and 41C, they arecollectively called the pedal actuators 41.

The connection box unit 101 forms a connection unit between a variety ofactuators etc. and a variety of sensors etc. provided at the automaticvehicle driving device 1 and a cable (including a power supply systemand a signal system) drawn into the vehicle from the external controllerplaced outside the vehicle. Further, this connection box unit 101 alsoserves as a supporting stage of the transmission actuator unit 131.

The transmission actuator unit 131 is a unit that operates a shiftlever, which is placed, in the example shown in the drawings, on a leftside of the driver's seat 2. The transmission actuator unit 131 has aconfiguration in which a selecting actuator 133 that performs anoperation (the so-called selecting operation) of the shift lever along avehicle width direction and a shifting actuator 134 that performs anoperation (the so-called shifting operation) of the shift lever along avehicle longitudinal direction are combined. More specifically, thetransmission actuator unit 131 has a grip hand 168 gripping asubstantially spherical knob or grip of a head (not shown) of the shiftlever, and this grip hand 168 moves forward and backward by a motion ofthe shifting actuator 134, and also the shifting actuator 134 moves as awhole along the vehicle width direction by a motion of the selectingactuator 133, then both of the selecting operation and the shiftingoperation are realized.

The automatic vehicle driving device 1 mounted above the driver's seat 2of the vehicle is fixed to the vehicle by being drawn (or pulled)obliquely downward in a rear direction by a belt(s) 25 at both right andleft sides of the driver's seat 2. More specifically, a seat support 27having rigidity is provided at a rear end of the seat cushion 3 toprotect the driver's seat 2 from damage, and the belts 25 are fastened(attached) to both ends of a laterally long narrow ring portion 29. Theseat support 27 has a plate portion 28 extending, like a substantiallyL-shape, from the rear end of the seat cushion 3 to a lower end of theseat back 4, and is attached to a rear side of the driver's seat 2 suchthat the plate portion 28 is inserted from the rear side of the driver'sseat 2 (i.e. from a rear seat side of the vehicle) along a lower surfaceof the driver's seat 2 (see FIG. 4). It is noted that each of right andleft ends of the belt 25 is formed into a loop shape through ageneral-purpose belt tightening device (the so-called load tighteningdevice), and a tightening operation is done by this belt tighteningdevice. As described later, in a state in which the automatic vehicledriving device 1 is tightened and fixed with the belts 25, lower ends ofthe legs 12 abut against the vehicle body floor 6 and an upper end ofthe frame 11 abuts against an upper portion of the seat back 4.

Next, each part forming the automatic vehicle driving device 1 will bedescribed in detail.

[Configurations of Frame 11 and Leg 12]

FIGS. 7 to 10 show configurations or structures of the frame 11 and theleg 12. The frame 11 is formed into a hollow pipe shape using e.g.carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). The frame 11 has a main frame15, a sub frame 16, belt linkage beams 17 and a pair of ribs 23, andthese are partly formed as integral parts. More specifically, some partsare separately molded, and these molded parts are connected together asan integral frame.

The main frame 15 has a substantially U-shape in plan view (or top view,viewed from an upper side of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 6). That is,the main frame 15 has a pair of straight main beams 15 a locatedparallel to each other and a lateral beam 15 b extending along ahorizontal direction and connecting upper ends of the pair of main beams15 a. In a vehicle-mounted state, as an attitude of the main frame 15,the lateral beam 15 b abuts against the upper portion of the seat back4, and the main beams 15 a linearly extend obliquely downward from thisabutting portion of the lateral beam 15 b toward the front end of theseat cushion 3.

Likewise, the sub frame 16 has a substantially U-shape in plan view, andhas a pair of straight sub beams 16 a located parallel to each other anda lateral beam 16 b extending along the horizontal direction andconnecting upper ends of the pair of sub beams 16 a. The sub frame 16 isformed so as to extend obliquely upward from the main frame 15 at anupper half of the main frame 15. In other words, the sub beams 16 abranch off obliquely upward from the main beams 15 a. The lateral beam16 b of the sub frame 16 is located above the lateral beam 15 b of themain frame 15 (more specifically, the lateral beam 16 b of the sub frame16 is located at a slightly rear side with respect to the lateral beam15 b of the main frame 15), and these lateral beams 15 b and 16 b areparallel to each other. Then, these lateral beams 15 b and 16 b areconnected through the pair of columnar ribs 23 that extend in a verticaldirection. The pair of ribs 23 are arranged parallel to each other.

The lateral beams 15 b and 16 b and the pair of ribs 23 forma seat backabutting part 22 that abuts against the vicinity of the upper end partof the seat back 4 in the vehicle-mounted state. That is, one plane (orone flat surface) is defined by the lateral beams 15 b and 16 b and thepair of ribs 23 which are located along four sides of a rectangle, andfour sides surrounding this plane widely abut against the seat back 4.Here, the plane defined by the lateral beams 15 b and 16 b and the pairof ribs 23 slants or inclines so as to correspond to a basic tilt angleof the seat back 4 in the vehicle.

The seat back 4 generally has an upper pad portion 4 a and a lower padportion 4 b whose inside materials (also whose hardness) are differentfrom each other. A basic size (dimensions) of each part of the mainframe 15 is set so that the lateral beam 15 b of the main frame 15 ispositioned along seams 4 c of a seat skin which define a boundarybetween the upper pad portion 4 a and the lower pad portion 4 b (seeFIG. 9). Although a concrete configuration of the seat back 4 isdifferent depending on vehicle types as a matter of course, in manycases, a position of the boundary between the upper pad portion 4 a andthe lower pad portion 4 b is almost fixed. Since the seams 4 c arerelatively recessed, by mounting the automatic vehicle driving device 1(the frame 11) in the vehicle with the lateral beam 15 b of the mainframe 15 being aligned with this position of the seams 4 c, positioningof the automatic vehicle driving device 1 is facilitated, and also anattitude of the frame 11 becomes stable. Here, as a matter of course,the automatic vehicle driving device 1 can be mounted regardless of theposition of the seams 4 c depending on the vehicle types.

The belt linkage beams 17 are beams which the above respective fixingbelts 25 are linked to or engaged with. Each of the belt linkage beams17 is bent or curved so as to form a triangular shape whose vertex angleis an obtuse angle in side view (viewed from a vehicle side, as shown inFIG. 3), and is formed integrally with the main beam 15 a so as toprotrude downward in the middle of the main beam 15 a. As shown in FIGS.3 and 10 etc., the belts 25 are wound around the respective belt linkagebeams 17 through openings that are formed between the belt linkage beams17 and the main beams 15 a. A portion of the vertex angle of the beltlinkage beam 17 where the belt 25 contacts is bent or curved to form agentle curved shape.

The sub beam 16 a of the sub frame 16 and the belt linkage beam 17vertically overlap the main beam 15 a in plan view (see FIG. 6). Thatis, three of the main beam 15 a, the sub beam 16 a and the belt linkagebeam 17 are arranged on a plane extending in the vertical direction.Further, each of the main frame 15, the sub frame 16 and the beltlinkage beam 17 has an octagonal hollow shape in cross section which islike a shape formed by chamfering four corners of a rectangle. A size ofa cross section of the main frame 15 is greater than those of the subframe 16 and the belt linkage beam 17. That is, the main frame 15 has ahollow pipe whose diameter is greater than those of the sub frame 16 andthe belt linkage beam 17.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, guide rails 20 and guide slits 21 forslidably guiding the connection box unit 101, which will be describedlater, are provided at both inner side surfaces of the pair of mainbeams 15 a. The channel-shaped guide rail 20 is attached throughout alower half of the main beam 15 a so as to extend along the main beam 15a. The guide slit 21 is formed from a vicinity of an upper end of theguide rail 20 to a vicinity of a connecting portion with the sub beam 16a so as to be aligned straight with the guide rail 20.

The main beam 15 a formed as the hollow pipe is molded into a roundclosed shape at a lower end (a front end), which is on an open end sideof the U-shape, of the main frame 15. Each cylindrical leg 12 is thenfixed to a lower end portion of this main beam 15 a through a legbracket 32. The leg bracket 32 is a kind of clamp formed into asubstantially U-shape in plan view. The leg brackets 32 are provided atpositions on outer sides of the pair of main beams 15 a. Lock levers 35of lock mechanisms 34 to clamp or tighten the leg brackets 32 areprovided on inner sides of the pair of main beams 15 a. A lock pin 36 ofeach lock mechanism 34 penetrates the main beam 15 a and is engaged withthe leg bracket 32. By tightening the lock mechanisms 34, thecylindrical legs 12 are fixed to the leg brackets 32, and also the legbrackets 32 are fixed to the main beams 15 a. In other words, in a statein which the lock mechanisms 34 are loosened, an angle (an angle withthe lock pin 36 being a center) of each leg 12 with respect to the mainbeam 15 a is adjustable, and a vertical fixing position of each leg 12with respect to the leg bracket 32 is adjustable. Basically, the legs 12are assembled with an upper end of each cylindrical leg 12 slightlyprotruding upward from an upper surface of the leg bracket 32.

In the shown embodiment, each of the legs 12 is provided, at a lower endthereof, with a height adjustment screw 13. Then, fine adjustment ispossible so that the legs 12 surely abut against the vehicle body floor6 in the vehicle-mounted state.

The pair of leg brackets 32 are coupled together through a pedalactuator support slide rail 31 extending in the vehicle width direction.This slide rail 31 has a long narrow rectangular plate shape, and isfixed to front surfaces of the leg brackets 32 so as to face toward thevehicle front side. In other words, the leg brackets 32 are fixed to aback surface at both end portions of the plate-shaped slide rail 31extending in the vehicle width direction. The slide rail 31 is made ofmetal material in order to have sufficient rigidity. The open end of thesubstantially U-shape of the main frame 15 is closed by this slide rail31. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a closed rectangle in plan view isformed by the frame 11 and the slide rail 31.

The slide rail 31 has, at upper and lower edges on a front surface sidethereof, guide surfaces 31 a each having a grooved V-shape crosssection. The slide rail 31 slidably supports pedal actuator supports 51that engage with these guide surfaces 31 a. In the example shown inFIGS. 7 to 10, three pedal actuator supports 51 are provided so as tocorrespond to the three pedal actuators 41 (the accelerator pedalactuator 41A, the brake pedal actuator 41B and the clutch pedal actuator41C). Details of the pedal actuator support 51 will be described later.The slide rail 31 is provided with a slit 33 which a cable (not shown)drawn out from a back surface side of each pedal actuator support 51passes through.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show a state in which the frame 11 is mounted above thedriver's seat 2. As described above, the belts 25 are wound (or bound)around the frame 11 and the seat support 27 provided at a back of thedriver's seat 2, and by tightening these belts 25 using the belttightening device (not shown), the frame 11 is fixed above the driver'sseat 2. In this mounted state, as an attitude of the frame 11, the frame11 extends obliquely or slantingly downward from the upper end part ofthe seat back 4 toward the front end of the seat cushion 3. Morespecifically, the main frame 15 linearly extends obliquely downward froma vicinity of the seams 4 c of the seat back 4 toward the front end ofthe seat cushion 3, and the seat back abutting part 22 of the upper end(a rear end) of the frame 11, which is formed by the main frame 15 andthe sub frame 16, abuts against the upper end part of the seat back 4.

The legs 12 extend downward along the front end of the seat cushion 3from the front end of the frame 11, and their lower ends each having theheight adjustment screw 13 abut against the vehicle body floor 6.Basically, each leg 12 is set to a vertical attitude on the vehicle bodyfloor 6.

Arrows F1, F2 and F3 in FIG. 10 indicate loads that occur at supportpoints by tightening of the belts 25. The frame 11 is drawn (or pulled)obliquely downward as indicated by the arrow F1 by tightening of thebelts 25 that are linked to or engaged with the belt linkage beams 17 ofthe frame 11. By this tensile force (tension or tractive force), asindicated by the arrow F2, the legs 12 are pressed against the vehiclebody floor 6. Further, as indicated by the arrow F3, the seat backabutting part 22 of the upper end (the rear end) of the frame 11 ispressed against the upper end part of the seat back 4. The frame 11including the main frame 15 and the belt linkage beams 17 is notsupported by the seat cushion 3. That is, the frame 11 is fixed by atotal of three points, i.e. two points of each leg 12 and the seat backabutting part 22 and a point of application of the tension of each belt25 (i.e. a vicinity of the vertex angle of each belt linkage beam 17) inthe middle of these two points.

As is clear from FIG. 10, the tension application point of the belt 25(the vertex angle of the belt linkage beam 17) is positioned in thesubstantially middle of a line (a virtual straight line) connecting thelower end of the leg 12 and the seat back abutting part 22 which arefixing points to the vehicle, and also the tensile force of the belt 25is exerted in a direction substantially orthogonal to the line (thevirtual straight line). The frame 11 is therefore efficiently and firmlysupported and fixed.

The seat cushion 3 generally has a flexible structure to ensure ridecomfort. In comparison to this, the seat back 4 has a firm structure toensure load capacity (or withstand load) at a collision. Therefore, byadequately tightening the belts 25, a large tensile load can be applied.Further, as compared with a case where the frame 11 (the automaticvehicle driving device 1) is mounted on the seat cushion 3, the frame 11can be firmly supported.

As shown in FIG. 3, a load of the whole automatic vehicle driving device1 including the transmission actuator unit 131 and the pedal actuators41 etc. is also exerted on two positions of each of the legs 12 and theseat back abutting part 22, but is not exerted on the seat cushion 3. Inother words, the load of the automatic vehicle driving device 1 issupported or borne by and at two positions of the vehicle body floor 6and the seat back 4. As mentioned above, since the seat back 4 has thefirm structure, the automatic vehicle driving device 1 is surelysupported, and vibrations of the automatic vehicle driving device 1 dueto vibrations of the vehicle during the running test and shift (ormovement or deviation) of position of the automatic vehicle drivingdevice 1 due to reaction forces occurring when actuating the variousactuators are suppressed. For instance, as can be understood from FIG.3, since although the reaction forces of the pedal actuators 41 uponworking of the pedal actuators 41 are exerted in an obliquely upwarddirection, the seat back abutting part 22 is substantially located onand along its reaction force exerting line, the reaction forces aresurely borne by the firm seat back 4.

[Configuration and Sliding Mechanism of Connection Box Unit 101]

FIG. 11 shows a state in which the connection box unit 101 is mounted onthe frame 11. FIGS. 12 and 13 show the connection box unit 101 alone.

As shown in FIG. 11, the connection box unit 101 is placed at an innerside of the frame 11. More specifically, the connection box unit 101 isplaced between the pair of parallel straight main beams 15 a.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the connection box unit 101 has aconnection box frame 102 supported by the pair of main beams 15 a, arigid actuator support plate 105 positioned at an upper end of thisconnection box frame 102 and a connection box 106 accommodated in arectangular space defined by the connection box frame 102 and theactuator support plate 105.

The connection box frame 102 is a frame formed in whole as an integralcomponent using e.g. carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), like theframe 11. The connection box frame 102 is formed from a pair of rightand left side frames 103 forming side surfaces of the connection boxframe 102 and a bar-shaped grip part 104 extending in the vehicle widthdirection so as to connect front ends of these two side frames 103. Eachof the side frames 103 has a substantially triangular shape whose vertexangle is an obtuse angle in side view. That is, the side frame 103 has asubstantially triangular shape having one side that is basicallyhorizontal in the vehicle-mounted state, the other side that extendsobliquely downward from a front end of this one side and a base thatextends obliquely along the main beam 15 a. Then, a triangular window103 a that is a similar figure of this triangle is open at each sideframe 103. The grip part 104 has such a thickness that an operator or aworkman can carry the connection box unit 101 by griping the grip part104. Therefore, the connection box frame 102 has a substantially U-shapeformed by connecting end portions of the pair of parallel-positionedside frames 103 through the grip part 104 in plan view.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the connection box frame 102 is moldedsuch that each part of the side frames 103 and the grip part 104 has asubstantially U-shape in cross section. In other words, each part of theconnection box frame 102 has a hollow shape whose lower surface (backsurface) side is open.

Sliders 110 extending straight along the base of the above-mentionedtriangle are fixed to respective outer side surfaces of the pair of sideframes 103. Each slider 110 has a cross section by which the slider 110can be slidably combined with the guide rail 20 provided at the innerside surface of the main beam 15 a.

Further, rollers 111 are provided at respective rear end portions of thepair of side frames 103 with the rollers 111 being adjacent torespective upper ends (respective rear ends) of the bar-shaped sliders110. The roller 111 is a roller that is combined with theabove-mentioned guide slit 21 provided at the inner side surface of themain beam 15 a, and a groove 111 a in the middle in an axial directionof the roller 111 is fitted in the guide slit 21. Each roller 111 has alock mechanism 113 structured from a lock pin 114 serving as a rotationaxis and a lock lever 115. When bringing this lock mechanism. 113 to alocked state, a distance of the groove 111 a of the roller 111 becomesnarrow, and roller portions on both sides of the groove 111 a tightlysandwich, in the axial direction, a side wall of the main beam 15 ahaving the guide slit 21, then movement and rotation of the roller 111with respect to the guide slit 21 are stopped. A position of theconnection box frame 102, i.e. a position of the connection box unit101, with respect to the frame 11 is fixed. On the other hand, whenunlocking the lock mechanism 113, the roller 111 can move along theguide slit 21 while freely rotating, and the slider 110 is also guidedby the guide rail 20, then the connection box unit 101 can be slidupward and downward (i.e. forward and backward). The lock levers 115 ofthe lock mechanisms 113 are provided at opposing inner sides of the pairof side frames 103. However, since the lock levers 115 are positioned ata rear end portion of the connection box frame 102 and at an upper sideof the connection box frame 102, the operator or the workman can easilyreach the lock levers 115 from the outside.

The actuator support plate 105 formed of metal plate has a rectangularshape in plan view. The actuator support plate 105 is set along thehorizontal one sides of the triangular side frames 103. The actuatorsupport plate 105 is fixed to upper surfaces of the side frames 103, andcouples the pair of parallel-positioned side frames 103.

As described later, the transmission actuator unit 131 is detachablymounted on an upper surface of the actuator support plate 105. Formounting this transmission actuator unit 131, grommets 121 each having alock hole 121 a are embedded in the actuator support plate 105 at fourcorners of the rectangular actuator support plate 105. The grommets 121include a pair of front side grommets 121A1 and 121A2 and a pair of rearside grommets 121B1 and 121B2. Since these grommets have the samestructure, when there is no need to distinguish these grommets, they arecollectively called the grommets 121.

The actuator support plate 105 is provided with transmission actuatorunit connectors 123 for electrically connecting with the transmissionactuator unit 131. The transmission actuator unit connectors 123 includefront side connectors 123A1 and 123A2 formed by combination of the firstconnector 123A1 and the second connectors 123A2 and rear side connectors123B1 and 123B2 formed by combination of the first connector 123B1 andthe second connectors 123B2. The front side connectors 123A1 and 123A2are located at a front side of the actuator support plate 105, andpositioned between the pair of front side grommets 121A1 and 121A2. Therear side connectors 123B1 and 123B2 are located at a rear side of theactuator support plate 105, and positioned between the pair of rear sidegrommets 121B1 and 121B2. Since these connectors have the samestructure, when there is no need to distinguish these connectors, theyare collectively called the transmission actuator unit connectors 123.As the transmission actuator unit connector 123, a connector structuredsuch that a terminal strip protrudes upward from the upper surface ofthe actuator support plate 105 (i.e. from a fixing surface of thetransmission actuator unit 131) and the terminal strip is in a floatingstate to allow some position shift (or some deviation of position) fromthe other mating side is used.

The front side grommets 121A1 and 121A2 and the front side connectors123A1 and 123A2 located at the front side of the actuator support plate105 and the rear side grommets 121B1 and 121B2 and the rear sideconnectors 123B1 and 123B2 located at the rear side of the actuatorsupport plate 105 are symmetrical about a center, as a symmetricalpoint, of the rectangular actuator support plate 105. That is, when theactuator support plate 105 is turned 180 degrees, arrangement andconfiguration of these grommets and connectors overlap each other.

The connection box 106 is a box that forms, as described above, theconnection unit between the variety of actuators etc. and the variety ofsensors etc. and the cable (including the power supply system and thesignal system) drawn into the vehicle from the external controllerplaced outside the vehicle. The connection box 106 has an upper box 106a located immediately below the actuator support plate 105 and a lowerbox 106 b overhanging forward from the upper box 106 a so as to have astepped shape at a front side of the connection box 106. Here, as shownin FIG. 13, the connection box 106 as a whole is one box-shaped casing.That is, the connection box 106 has a ceiling wall 106 c, a pair of sidewalls 106 d, a bottom wall 106 e, a rear wall 106 f corresponding to aback portion of the upper box 106 a and a sloping wall 106 gcorresponding to a back portion of the lower box 106 b. The ceiling wall106 c is secured to the actuator support plate 105, then the connectionbox 106 is supported by the connection box frame 102. Therefore, theceiling wall 106 c and the bottom wall 106 e are basically on or along ahorizontal plane.

On a front surface of the upper box 106 a, a main connector 107 to whicha relatively large-sized centralized connector (or a relativelylarge-sized integrated connector) (denoted by a reference sign 116 inFIG. 1 etc.) of a top end of the cable drawn into the vehicle from theexternal controller is connected is provided. On a front surface of thelower box 106 b, a plurality of relatively small-sized connectors suchas pedal connectors 108 to which the cables (not shown) leading to thepedal actuators 41 are connected are arranged. As shown in FIG. 13,several connecters are also provided on the back surface of theconnection box 106. It is noted that in order to prevent interferencewith the cables connected to the connection box 106, the grip part 104is located at a relatively lower side with respect to the bottom wall106 e of the connection box 106.

FIG. 14 shows a state in which the transmission actuator unit 131 ismounted on the upper surface of the connection box unit 101. FIG. 14 isa drawing for describing a position adjustment of the connection boxunit 101 with respect to the frame 11. As described above, theconnection box unit 101 can be slid upward and downward (i.e. forwardand backward) along the main beams 15 a of the frame 11. FIG. 14illustrates a state in which the connection box unit 101 is set to arelatively high position. FIGS. 1 and 15 illustrate a state in which theconnection box unit 101 is set to a relatively low position. With suchposition adjustment of the connection box unit 101, a height position ofthe transmission actuator unit 131, i.e. a basic height position of thegrip hand 168, is changed, thereby widely meeting the shift lever whoseheight and/or length are different depending on the vehicle types.

Here, when the position of the connection box unit 101 is set to be highas shown in FIG. 14, the transmission actuator unit 131 is located at arelatively backward position, whereas when the position of theconnection box unit 101 is set to be low as shown in FIG. 1 etc., thetransmission actuator unit 131 is located at a relatively forwardposition. However, such change of forward-and-backward direction can beabsorbed by setting of an initial position of the shifting actuator 134that moves (actuates) in the forward and backward directions. Forinstance, in a case where a fore-and-aft position of the shift lever inthe vehicle in the case of FIG. 14 is the same as that in the case ofFIG. 1, if the position of the connection box unit 101 is set to be highas shown in FIG. 14, a distance to the shift lever is relatively long.However, in this case, a position at which the grip hand 168 protrudesrelatively long is set to a reference position of the control, therebyreadily meeting such case.

As described later, in the shown embodiment, the shifting actuator 134can pivot (or rotate or tilt) upward and downward relative to theselecting actuator 133. Therefore, also with this upward-and-downwardrotation, it is possible to meet some difference in height position ofthe shift lever head.

The upward-and-downward and forward-and-backward position adjustment ofthe connection box unit 101 (i.e. the upward-and-downward andforward-and-backward position adjustment of the transmission actuatorunit 131) described above can be performed with the automatic vehicledriving device 1 remaining mounted above the driver's seat 2 as shown inFIG. 1 etc. Therefore, work accompanied by trial and error can beeliminated, and the adjustment can be readily performed so as tooptimize a positional relationship with the shift lever after mountingthe automatic vehicle driving device 1 in the vehicle.

[Configuration and Attachable-and-Detachable Structure of TransmissionActuator Unit 131]

The transmission actuator unit 131 has a structure by which thetransmission actuator unit 131 can be easily attached to and detachedfrom the connection box unit 101. Further, by reversing a mountingattitude of the transmission actuator unit 131 (the orientation of thetransmission actuator unit 131 in a fore-and-aft direction) 180 degreeswith respect to the connection box unit 101, the transmission actuatorunit 131 can readily meet the so-called right-hand drive vehicle and theso-called left-hand drive vehicle.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show a state in which the transmission actuator unit 131is detached or dismounted from connection box unit 101. FIGS. 19 to 21show the detached transmission actuator unit 131 alone.

As mentioned above, the transmission actuator unit 131 has theconfiguration of the combination of the selecting actuator 133performing the selecting operation of the shift lever along the vehiclewidth direction and the shifting actuator 134 performing the shiftingoperation of the shift lever along the vehicle longitudinal direction.

The transmission actuator unit 131 has a relatively thick base plate 132having high rigidity. The selecting actuator 133 is configured on thisbase plate 132. The selecting actuator 133 has an actuator housing 135having a long narrow box shape extending along the vehicle widthdirection, and this actuator housing 135 is fixed onto the base plate132. The selecting actuator 133 further has a box-shaped connector cover137 on one side of the actuator housing 135, which is adjacent to themiddle in a longitudinal direction of the actuator housing 135, and abox-shaped motor cover 138 on the other side of the actuator housing135, which is also adjacent to the middle in the longitudinal directionof the actuator housing 135. The base plate 132 is shaped into a flatplate, and has, as shown in FIG. 21 etc., an outside shape that is drawnsubstantially along outlines of outer peripheries of three of theactuator housing 135, the connector cover 137 and the motor cover 138.That is, the base plate 132 has a shape whose both ends in itslongitudinal direction are narrow in width (in size in the vehiclelongitudinal direction) and whose middle is wide in width. Here, anelectric motor and a geared speed reducer (both not shown) areaccommodated in the motor cover 138, and as shown in FIG. 21, a part ofthe base plate 132 which corresponds to a lower surface of the electricmotor is cut out, and a bottom surface of the motor cover 138 which isformed by a mesh structure having a number of air vents is exposed. Anumber of air vents are also provided and open on an upper surface ofthe motor cover 138.

The selecting actuator 133 is a rack-and-pinion type linear-motionactuator in which a rack shaft 141 serving as an actuator rod moves inthe vehicle width direction by working of the electric motor and thespeed reducer. In a retracting state of the rack shaft 141, almostentire rack shaft 141 is accommodated in the actuator housing 135, butonly a top end portion of the rack shaft 141 protrudes from one end(which is on a left-hand side when the connector cover 137 faces towardthe front side of the vehicle) of the actuator housing 135. As describedlater, the shifting actuator 134 is supported by this top end portion ofthe rack shaft 141. In the case of the so-called right-hand drivevehicle shown in FIG. 1 etc., the shifting actuator 134 is located on aleft-hand side with respect to the frame 11 situated above the driver'sseat 2 and connection box unit 101. It is noted that in order to achievean accurate linear motion of the rack shaft 141 while bearing a load ofthe shifting actuator 134, the rack shaft 141 is guided by a guidemechanism (not shown) provided in the actuator housing 135.

As shown in FIGS. 19 and 21, at both sides (both sides in the vehiclewidth direction) of the connector cover 137, the base plate 132 extendsor protrudes from the outlines of the actuator housing 135 and theconnector cover 137, and a pair of extending parts 132 a are formed.Then, each of the pair of extending parts 132 a is provided with a lockpin 144 that forms a lock mechanism 143 together with theabove-mentioned grommet 121 of the actuator support plate 105 on theconnection box unit 101 side. A lower end portion of the lock pin 144protrudes downward from the surface of the base plate 132. The lock pin144 has, at an upper end portion thereof, a knob 145 for a turningoperation by hand or with fingers. The lock mechanism 143 is ageneral-purpose screw type mechanism (see FIGS. 17 and 18) which, byturning the lock pin 144 inserted into the lock hole 121 a of thegrommet 121 certain degrees (e.g. 90 degrees or 180 degrees), performslocking accompanied by tightening in an axial direction of the lock pin144.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 etc., in case of the so-called right-handdrive vehicle, the pair of lock pins 144 are engaged with the front sidegrommets 121A1 and 121A2 located at the front side of the actuatorsupport plate 105. When bringing the pair of lock mechanisms 143 to alocked state, the base plate 132 is tightened and firmly fixed to theactuator support plate 105.

As shown in FIG. 21, a connector 171 formed by combination of a firstconnector 171 a and a second connector 171 b is provided between thepair of lock pins 144. These first and second connectors 171 a and 171 bare connected to the transmission actuator unit connectors 123, morespecifically, the front side connectors 123A1 and 123A2, of the actuatorsupport plate 105 respectively. As described above, since thetransmission actuator unit connector 123 on the actuator support plate105 side has the structure in which the terminal strip is in thefloating state, only by mounting the transmission actuator unit 131 onthe actuator support plate 105 and tightening the base plate 132 and theactuator support plate 105 each other by the lock mechanisms 143,connecting of the both connectors 171 and 123 is completed.

Here, on an upper surface side of the base plate 132, this connector 171portion is covered with the connector cover 137. Cables (not shown)leading to the connector 171 are also routed or wired through insides ofthe connector cover 137 and the actuator housing 135, then are notexposed to the outside.

Further, as shown in FIG. 21, on a bottom surface of the transmissionactuator unit 131, a positioning tab 172 is provided at a position wherethe positioning tab 172 and the connector 171 (for instance, the firstconnector 171 a) are symmetrical about a point. This positioning tab 172is shaped like a tongue shape and protrudes downward from a lowersurface of the base plate 132. Then, when the transmission actuator unit131 is mounted in the case of the so-called right-hand drive vehicle,the positioning tab 172 is engaged with an inner side of the rear sideconnector 123B1 or 123B2 (for instance, the first connector 123B1) ofthe actuator support plate 105. With this engagement of the positioningtab 172 with the rear side connector 123B1, positioning of thetransmission actuator unit 131 is further facilitated when performingmounting work of the transmission actuator unit 131, and also positionshift etc. of the transmission actuator unit 131 in a mounted state aresuppressed. In the shown example, the positioning tab 172 is formed at alower surface part of the motor cover 138 formed by the mesh structure.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 etc., in the state in which the transmissionactuator unit 131 is mounted on the actuator support plate 105, anoutside shape of a front edge (an edge portion on the connector cover137 side) of the base plate 132 including the extending parts 132 asubstantially corresponds to a shape of a front edge of the actuatorsupport plate 105. On a rear edge side of the actuator support plate105, the rear side connectors 123B1 and 123B2, which are not used forthe so-called right-hand drive vehicle, are covered with the base plate132 of the motor cover 138 section. That is, the unused rear sideconnectors 123B1 and 123B2 are not exposed.

Both right and left end portions of the actuator housing 135, whichprotrude from the frame 11 in the vehicle width direction, including thebase plate 132 positioned on a lower surface of the actuator housing 135are located above the main beams 15 a of the frame 11 (see FIGS. 1 and 3etc.). It is therefore possible to slide the connection box unit 101 andthe transmission actuator unit 131 upward and downward or forward andbackward without interference of the main beams 15 a with the actuatorhousing 135. It is noted that each part is set so that even at a maximumbackward position of the connection box unit 101, the sub beams 16 a donot interfere with the actuator housing 135.

The actuator housing 135 is provided, on an upper surface 135 a thereof,with a substantially U-shaped handle 136 that can be grasped or grippedby the operator or the workman so that the operator or the workman cancarry the detached transmission actuator unit 131. This handle 136 isprovided at a position corresponding to a centroid position (a positionof the center of mass) of the entirety of the transmission actuator unit131 including the shifting actuator 134. Therefore, when lifting thetransmission actuator unit 131 through the handle 136, the transmissionactuator unit 131 does not greatly or heavily lean or tilt. Thisfacilitates carrying work and attaching-and-detaching work of thetransmission actuator unit 131 to and from the connection box unit 101.

As described above, the transmission actuator unit 131 can be detachedfrom the connection box unit 101 only by loosening the pair of lockmechanisms 143. Conversely, the transmission actuator unit 131 can beattached (fixed) to the connection box unit 101 by mounting thetransmission actuator unit 131 on the connection box unit 101 andbringing the lock mechanisms 143 to the locked state by turning the pairof lock pins 144 by hand or with fingers. Upon attaching thetransmission actuator unit 131 to the connection box unit 101, electricconnection by the connectors 123 and 171 is established without externalcable connecting work.

Therefore, when mounting the automatic vehicle driving device 1 in thevehicle, in a state in which the transmission actuator unit 131 remainsdismounted from the frame 11 (the connection box unit 101), the frame 11is fixed and supported above the driver's seat 2, and after that, thetransmission actuator unit 131 can be fixed to the connection box unit101 in an interior of the vehicle. Conversely, when dismounting theautomatic vehicle driving device 1 from the vehicle, the transmissionactuator unit 131 can be easily detached on ahead. It is thereforepossible to readily carry the automatic vehicle driving device 1 intoand out of the vehicle interior through a door opening of the vehicle.

On the other hand, the transmission actuator unit 131 detached from theconnection box unit 101 can be attached to the connection box unit 101with the front and rear of the transmission actuator unit 131 beingreversed 180 degrees (or with the transmission actuator unit 131 turnedback to front by 180 degrees). This can readily meet the vehicle inwhich the shift-lever is on a right side of the driver's seat 2, i.e.the so-called left-hand drive vehicle.

In the case of the left-hand drive vehicle in which the mountingattitude of the transmission actuator unit 131 is reversed 180 degreesfrom the mounting attitude of the transmission actuator unit 131 for theright-hand drive vehicle, as shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, the motor cover138 is located at the front side, and the connector cover 137 is locatedat the rear side. The pair of lock pins 144 of the transmission actuatorunit 131 are engaged with the rear side grommets 121B1 and 121B2 locatedat the rear side of the actuator support plate 105, and locking andunlocking are done by the turning operation of the knobs 145. Further,the connector 171, i.e. the first connector 171 a and the secondconnector 171 b, on the transmission actuator unit 131 side areconnected to the rear side connectors 123B1 and 123B2 of the actuatorsupport plate 105 respectively. The positioning tab 172 protrudingdownward from the base plate 132 is engaged with unused front sideconnector 123A1 or 123A2 (for instance, the first connector 123A1) ofthe actuator support plate 105. These unused front side connectors 123A1and 123A2 are covered with the base plate 132 of the motor cover 138section, and are not exposed to the outside.

It is noted that even if the operator or the workman accidentallyattempts to engage the lock mechanisms 143 of the transmission actuatorunit 131 whose mounting attitude is set for the left-hand drive vehiclewith the front side grommets 121A1 and 121A2, since positions of theboth connectors 123 and 171 do not correspond to each other and theconnectors 123 and 171 interfere with each other, mistakenly engagingthe lock mechanisms 143 does not occur.

In the case of the mounting attitude of the transmission actuator unit131 for the right-hand drive vehicle, the actuator housing 135 (the rackshaft 141) of the selecting actuator 133 is located at a rear side withrespect to the pair of lock pins 144 (see FIG. 6), whereas in the caseof the mounting attitude of the transmission actuator unit 131 for theleft-hand drive vehicle, the actuator housing 135 (the rack shaft 141)of the selecting actuator 133 is located at a front side with respect tothe pair of lock pins 144 (see FIG. 25). In the both cases of themounting attitude, a position of a center of the rack shaft 141 of theselecting actuator 133 is the same, and does not change.

[Configuration and Attachable-and-Detachable Structure of ShiftingActuator 134]

As described above, although the shifting actuator 134 is supported bythe top end portion of the rack shaft 141 of the selecting actuator 133,this shifting actuator 134 can be easily attached to and detached fromthe top end portion of the rack shaft 141. Further, the shiftingactuator 134 is configured so that a mounting attitude of the shiftingactuator 134 with respect to the selecting actuator 133 can be turnedback to front. That is, in a case where the mounting attitude of thetransmission actuator unit 131 is reversed 180 degrees according to achange from the case of the right-hand drive vehicle to the case of theleft-hand drive vehicle or vice versa, since the position of the shiftlever is located at a front side with respect to the rack shaft 141 ofthe selecting actuator 133 in many vehicle types, there is a need tochange the orientation of the shifting actuator 134 (according to whichside the grip hand 168 is positioned at a front side or a rear side). Inthe present embodiment, the reverse of the orientation of the shiftingactuator 134 in the fore-and-aft direction is easily done.

FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate a state in which the shifting actuator 134 isdetached from the selecting actuator 133. Here, the orientation of theshifting actuator 134 (the mounting attitude of the shifting actuator134 with respect to the selecting actuator 133) in these drawingscorresponds to the case of the so-called right-hand drive vehicle shownin FIG. 1 etc.

The rack shaft 141 protruding from and retracting into the actuatorhousing 135 of the selecting actuator 133 has a prismatic shape. AnL-shaped bracket 151 is fixed to the top end portion of the rack shaft141 through a rotatable joint 152. The joint 152 has a rotation axisthat is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the rack shaft 141, andthe L-shaped bracket 151 is supported so as to be able to pivot orrotate with this rotation axis of the joint 152 being a center (a pivotor a pivotal center). The L-shaped bracket 151 has a rectangularmounting surface 151 a having a flat surface that is parallel to therotation axis of the joint 152, and further has, at both sides of thismounting surface 151 a, a first guide surface 151 b and a second guidesurface 151 c which stand vertically from the mounting surface 151 a.

The rotation axis of the joint 152 is positioned below the rack shaft141, and a position of the mounting surface 151 a is offset downwardfrom the rotation axis of the joint 152. Therefore, the mounting surface151 a is positioned at a lower side with respect to an extension line ofthe rack shaft 141. The first guide surface 151 b and the second guidesurface 151 c extend in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis ofthe joint 152 (in other words, a direction orthogonal to the rack shaft141), and are parallel to each other.

In the middle of the mounting surface 151 a of the L-shaped bracket 151,a lock pin 155 that forms a lock mechanism 154 is formed. This lockmechanism 154 is a general-purpose screw type lock mechanism that issubstantially the same as the above-described lock mechanism 143 to fixthe transmission actuator unit 131. The lock mechanism 154 has, at alower end of the lock pin 155, a knob 156 for a turning operation byhand or with fingers.

The shifting actuator 134 has a box-shaped actuator housing 161 having arectangular bottom surface, a speed reducer 163 accommodated in thisactuator housing 161, an electric motor 165 connected to the speedreducer 163 and a rack shaft 166, as an actuator rod, whose top endportion protrudes from an end portion of the actuator housing 161. Therack shaft 166 has a bar-shape whose cross section, except a teethportion, is a circular shape as a basic shape. The actuator housing 161has a cylindrical part 161 a extending straight below the electric motor165. When the rack shaft 166 is at a retracting position, most of therack shaft 166 is accommodated in this cylindrical part 161 a. A cornerpart of the box-shaped actuator housing 161, which is on an oppositeside to the electric motor 165, is a slanting surface (or a slopingsurface).

The grip hand 168 is connected to a top end of the rack shaft 166. Thisgrip hand 168 has a bifurcated fixed finger 168 a, a movable finger 168b that can open and close relative to the fixed finger 168 a and afixing screw 169 that performs an open-and-closure operation of themovable finger 168 b relative to the fixed finger 168 a and tightens andfixes the movable finger 168 b to the fixed finger 168 a. The grip hand168 is a grip hand gripping the knob or the grip of the shift lever head(all not shown). By open-and-closure adjustment of the fingers 168 a and168 b through the fixing screw 169, the grip hand 168 can grip a varietyof knobs or grips having different shapes or sizes.

The bottom surface of the actuator housing 161 is formed by a bottomplate 161 b that is relatively thick and has high rigidity. As shown inFIG. 23, this bottom plate 161 b has a rectangular shape whose long sideextends along a longitudinal direction of the rack shaft 166. A width ofa short side of the bottom plate 161 b is substantially equal to a widthof the mounting surface 151 a of the L-shaped bracket 151, i.e. adistance between the first guide surface 151 b and the second guidesurface 151 c. That is, the bottom plate 161 b has a size that can berelatively tightly fitted onto the mounting surface 151 a between thefirst and second guide surfaces 151 b and 151 c of the L-shaped bracket151. In the middle of the bottom plate 161 b, a grommet 162 having alock hole 162 a with which the lock pin 155 is engaged is provided. Thisgrommet 162 is the same as the above-mentioned grommet 121 of theactuator support plate 105. The grommet 162 forms the lock mechanism 154together with the lock pin 155.

Therefore, by mounting the actuator housing 161 on the L-shaped bracket151 and moving the lock pin 155 to a locking direction by a turningoperation of the knob 156 by hand or with fingers, the bottom plate 161b is tightly fixed to the mounting surface 151 a of the L-shaped bracket151. The shifting actuator 134 is then fixed to the L-shaped bracket151. In this fixing state, since right and left side edges of the bottomplate 161 b are engaged with or fitted to the first and second guidesurfaces 151 b and 151 c of the L-shaped bracket 151, the shiftingactuator 134 does not lean or incline to a right side or a left side.That is, the rack shaft 141 of the selecting actuator 133 and the rackshaft 166 of the shifting actuator 134 are always properly maintained inan orthogonal state. It is noted that an axial center of the rack shaft166 crosses the pivot (or a pivotal center) for the L-shaped bracket151, i.e. the rotation axis of the joint 152. Therefore, the rack shaft166 having the grip hand 168 at its top end can rotate (pivot or tilt)upward and downward with its rotation center positioned on the axialcenter of the rack shaft 166 being a center (a pivot or a pivotalcenter).

Further, by performing the turning operation of the knob 156 provided ata lower surface side of the L-shaped bracket 151 to an unlockingdirection, the lock mechanism 154 is unlocked, and as shown in FIGS. 22and 23, the shifting actuator 134 can be detached from the L-shapedbracket 151. Then, by turning the detached shifting actuator 134 back tofront by 180 degrees and attaching the shifting actuator 134 to theL-shaped bracket 151 again, as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, combination ofthe selecting actuator 133 with the shifting actuator 134 having areverse mounting attitude becomes possible.

The lock hole 162 a of the grommet 162 is positioned at a center of thebottom plate 161 b of a lower surface of the actuator housing 161, atleast at a center of the width along a direction of the short side ofthe bottom plate 161 b. Therefore, also in the case of the reversemounting attitude of the shifting actuator 134 which is set by turningthe shifting actuator 134 back to front by 180 degrees, the bottom plate161 b is relatively tightly fitted onto the mounting surface 151 abetween the first and second guide surfaces 151 b and 151 c of theL-shaped bracket 151, and the lock pin 155 is engaged with the lock hole162 a.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 etc., the selecting actuator 133 andthe shifting actuator 134 are electrically connected through two cables167 leading from the top end portion of the rack shaft 141 of theselecting actuator 133 to the electric motor 165 of the shiftingactuator 134. Each of the cables 167 has a minimum length required todetach the shifting actuator 134 from the L-shaped bracket 151 andreverse (or turn) the attitude of the shifting actuator 134. Therefore,basically, reversing work (or turning work) of the attitude of theshifting actuator 134 can be done without disconnecting the cables 167.In FIGS. 22 and 23, for convenience in drawing, the cables 167 areillustrated as if the cables 167 were cut. If necessary, the cables 167could be disconnected from the shifting actuator 134.

As shown in FIG. 22, each of the cables 167 extends through an inside ofthe rack shaft 141 of the selecting actuator 133, then is connected tothe connector 171 provided at the lower surface of the base plate 132.Therefore, a length of a part of the cable 167 which is exposed to theoutside is kept to a minimum.

FIG. 28 is a cross section of the shifting actuator 134, cut along theaxial center of the rack shaft 166. More specifically, FIG. 28 shows across section of the shifting actuator 134 fixed to and supported by theL-shaped bracket 151 through the lock mechanism 154. The shiftingactuator 134 is a rack-and-pinion type linear-motion actuator in whichthe rack shaft 166 serving as the actuator rod moves in the vehiclelongitudinal direction by working of the electric motor 165 and thespeed reducer 163. As shown in the drawings, the speed reducer 163configured from a reduction gear train that is structured by combinationof a plurality of gears 164 is accommodated in the box-shaped actuatorhousing 161. The speed reducer 163 reduces rotation speed of theelectric motor 165. The rack shaft 166 is provided with a rack 166 ameshing with a final pinion of the gear train.

As described above, by mounting the whole transmission actuator unit 131on the connection box unit 101 selectively in either of the two mountingattitudes and by changing the mounting attitude of the shifting actuator134 with respect to the selecting actuator 133 according to the mountingattitude of this the transmission actuator unit 131, the automaticvehicle driving device 1 of the present embodiment can readily meet theso-called right-hand drive vehicle in which the shift-lever is locatedon the left side with respect to the driver's seat 2 and the so-calledleft-hand drive vehicle in which the shift-lever is located on the rightside with respect to the driver's seat 2.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the automatic vehicle driving device 1 for theright-hand drive vehicle, and the grip hand 168 is located at the leftside of the frame 11. Further, the grip hand 168 is located at the frontside with respect to the actuator housing 135 of the selecting actuator133. The selecting actuator 133 and the shifting actuator 134 of thetransmission actuator unit 131 are combined as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20.

In contrast to this, FIGS. 24 and 25 illustrate the automatic vehicledriving device 1 for the left-hand drive vehicle, and the grip hand 168is located at the right side of the frame 11. Further, the grip hand 168is located at the front side with respect to the actuator housing 135 ofthe selecting actuator 133. The selecting actuator 133 and the shiftingactuator 134 of the transmission actuator unit 131 are combined as shownin FIGS. 26 and 27.

Further, as shown in FIG. 29, it is also possible to select the mountingattitude of the shifting actuator 134 such that the grip hand 168 islocated at the rear side with respect to the actuator housing 135 of theselecting actuator 133. FIG. 29 is an example of a case of theright-hand drive vehicle in which the shift lever is on the left side ofthe driver's seat 2 and the shift lever is located on a relatively rearside with respect to the driver's seat 2. That is, as compared with thecase of the right-hand drive vehicle shown in FIG. 6, the shiftingactuator 134 is combined with the selecting actuator 133 with theshifting actuator 134 turned (or reversed) back to front, and the griphand 168 is located at a relatively rear position.

Such configuration is also applied to the case of the left-hand drivevehicle. For instance, the shifting actuator 134 can be combined withthe selecting actuator 133 with the shifting actuator 134 turned (orreversed) back to front in the left-hand drive vehicle shown in FIG. 25.

As described above, a height position or a fore-and-aft position of theselecting actuator 133 can be changed by a slide position of theconnection box unit 101 with respect to the frame 11. Therefore, bycombination of the change of the orientation of the shifting actuator134 in the fore-and-aft direction with the change of the height positionor the fore-and-aft position of the selecting actuator 133, the shiftingactuator 134 can meet a variety of shift lever positions.

Further, although the height position of the shift lever head generallychanges in an up-and-down direction according to the shifting operation,the shifting actuator 134 can pivot or rotate upward and downward withthe rotation axis of the joint 152 being the center (the pivot or thepivotal center). Thus, this allows the change of the height position ofthe shift lever head. A smooth shifting operation can therefore beperformed.

[Configuration and Attachable-and-Detachable Structure of Pedal Actuator41]

As described above, the automatic vehicle driving device 1 in thepresent embodiment has the three pedal actuators 41, i.e. theaccelerator pedal actuator 41A, the brake pedal actuator 41B and theclutch pedal actuator 41C. These pedal actuators 41 are supported,through the pedal actuator supports 51, by the pedal actuator supportslide rail 31 fixed to the front end of the frame 11.

FIG. 30 shows details of the pedal actuator support slide rail 31located at the front end of the frame 11 and the pedal actuator supports51. FIGS. 31 to 34 show details of the accelerator pedal actuator 41A orthe brake pedal actuator 41B, as a typical structure or configuration ofthe pedal actuator 41. In the present embodiment, the accelerator pedalactuator 41A and the brake pedal actuator 41B have the same structure orconfiguration.

The pedal actuator support slide rail 31 is shaped into a long narrowband shape extending in the vehicle width direction, and is formed of arelatively thick metal plate having rigidity. Each of the pedal actuatorsupports 51 has a longitudinal rectangular shape ranging in size from anupper side to a lower side of the slide rail 31 in front view (viewedfrom the vehicle front side). The pedal actuator support 51 has a platepart 51 a, as a main body, which overlaps a front surface of the sliderail 31, and an upper edge and a lower edge of the plate part 51 aextend to a vehicle rear side. Further, as shown in FIG. 31, inclinedguide surfaces 51 b are formed at inner sides of the upper and loweredges extending to the vehicle rear side. These pair of guide surfaces51 b are engaged with the guide surfaces 31 a of the upper and loweredges of the slide rail 31. With this engagement of the guide surfaces51 b and 31 a, the pedal actuator support 51 is supported slidably alongthe vehicle width direction by the slide rail 31. The pedal actuatorsupport 51 can be inserted or fitted onto the slide rail 31 along alongitudinal direction (the vehicle width direction) of the slide rail31 from either of the both ends of the slide rail 31 while engaging theboth guide surfaces 51 b and 31 a with each other.

A fixing screw 55 to fix the pedal actuator support 51 having beenadjusted at a proper position along the vehicle width direction to theslide rail 31 is provided at a lower portion of the pedal actuatorsupport 51. This fixing screw 55 penetrates the lower portion of thepedal actuator support 51, and its screw top reaches the slide rail 31.The pedal actuator support 51 is then fixed to the slide rail 31 bytightening of this fixing screw 55. As shown in FIG. 30, the fixingscrew 55 has, at a head portion thereof, an L-shaped lever part, and atightening operation is possible by hand or with fingers. Therefore, itis possible to easily adjust positions, in the vehicle width direction,of the accelerator pedal actuator 41A, the brake pedal actuator 41B andthe clutch pedal actuator 41C individually in the vehicle interior so asto correspond to positions of the respective pedals 45, 46 and 47 whichare different depending on the vehicle types.

A tubular part 52 having a rectangular tubular shape and protrudingforward is formed integrally with the plate part 51 a of the pedalactuator support 51. A support-side connector 53 is provided at an innerside of this tubular part 52. The tubular part 52 stands in a directionperpendicular to a front surface of the plate part 51 a toward thevehicle front side. As the support-side connector 53, a connectorstructured such that a terminal strip is in a floating state to allowsome position shift (or some deviation of position) from the othermating side, like the transmission actuator unit connector 123 of theconnection box unit 101, is used. The cable (not shown) is drawn outbackward from the support-side connector 53, and this cable extends tothe connection box 106 through the slit 33 of the slide rail 31.

A grommet 54, which is a part of an after-mentioned lock mechanism 65for the pedal actuator 41, is provided at an upper portion of the platepart 51 a, i.e. at an upper position with respect to the tubular part52. This grommet 54 is the same as the above-mentioned grommet 121 ofthe actuator support plate 105 and the above-mentioned grommet 162 ofthe shifting actuator 134. The grommet 54 has a lock hole 54 a thatopens forward.

The pedal actuator 41 is also a rack-and-pinion type linear-motionactuator. The pedal actuator 41 has, as main bodies, a long narrowactuator housing 78 that slidably supports and accommodates therein arack shaft 80 serving as an actuator rod, a speed reducer 82 and anelectric motor 81 that are fixed to a lower surface side of the actuatorhousing 78. Here, in the case of the selecting actuator 133 and theshifting actuator 134, a rotation axis of the electric motor is arrangedparallel to the rack shaft, whereas in the case of the pedal actuator41, a direction of an axial center of the rack shaft 80 is differentfrom that of a rotation axis of the electric motor 81 by 90 degrees. Thespeed reducer 82 and the electric motor 81 are arranged in series.Therefore, the speed reducer 82 and the electric motor 81 relativelygreatly protrude downward at a position close to a top end portion ofthe actuator housing 78, and a substantially L-shaped arrangement of thespeed reducer 82, the electric motor 81 and the actuator housing 78 isformed.

Since the pedals 45, 46 and 47 are located at relatively low positionsas compared with a height of the seat cushion 3, the respective actuatorhousings 78 (in other words, the respective rack shafts 80) slope suchthat their top end sides facing to the pedals 45, 46 and 47 are locatedat low positions with respect to their base end sides located close tothe frame 11. The rack shafts 80 have a bar-shape whose cross section isa circular shape, and top end portions, which protrude from therespective actuator housings 78, of the rack shafts 80 press the pedals45, 46 and 47.

For the accelerator pedal actuator 41A and the brake pedal actuator 41Bshown in FIGS. 31 to 34, a roller 86 is fixed to the top end of eachrack shaft 80 through an after-mentioned load cell joint 85, and therollers 86 of the accelerator pedal actuator 41A and the brake pedalactuator 41B press the pedals 45 and 46. Each of the rollers 86 has arotation axis along the vehicle width direction, and the rollers 86 canpress the pedals 45 and 46 while allowing angle change of pedal surfacesof the pedals 45 and 46 occurring by and according to swing or pivotalmovement of the pedals 45 and 46.

As shown in FIG. 31, the actuator housing 78 is supported by the pedalactuator support 51 through a pedal actuator support bracket 61, a linkarm 68 and a slide bracket 69.

The slide bracket 69 is a bracket that supports the actuator housing 78at the lower surface side of the actuator housing 78 so as to be able toslide the actuator housing 78 forward and backward. That is, as shown inFIG. 33, the actuator housing 78 is rectangular (almost a square) incross section, and has recessed slide grooves 78 a at both side edges onthe lower side of the actuator housing 78. The slide bracket 69 has across section that engages with or fits these pair of slide grooves 78 afrom both sides. With this engagement, the actuator housing 78 can beslid relative to the slide bracket 69. The slide bracket 69 has a fixingscrew 79 to fix the actuator housing 78 having been slid andposition-adjusted to the slide bracket 69. The fixing screw 79 has, at ahead portion thereof, an L-shaped lever part, like the fixing screw 55of the pedal actuator support 51, and a tightening operation is possibleby hand or with fingers. Therefore, it is possible to easily adjust afore-and-aft position of each actuator housing 78 according to thepositions of the pedals 45, 46 and 47 in the vehicle.

The pedal actuator support bracket 61 is linked with the slide bracket69 through the link arm 68. The pedal actuator support bracket 61 isdetachably secured to the pedal actuator support 51. With this, eachpedal actuator 41 is supported by the pedal actuator support slide rail31 (see FIG. 5 etc.).

As shown in FIG. 33, the pedal actuator support bracket 61 has, on onesurface of a thick plate member thereof, i.e. a mating surface 61 athereof with the pedal actuator support 51, a hollow part 62 that isfitted onto the tubular part 52 of the pedal actuator support 51. Thepedal actuator support bracket 61 further has, at an upper position withrespect to the hollow part 62, a lock pin 67 serving as the lockmechanism 65. The hollow part 62 has a shape that is complementary tothe rectangular-tubular-shaped tubular part 52. The hollow part 62 isprovided, at an inner side thereof, with a bracket-side connector 63corresponding to the support-side connector 53. Therefore, by pressingthe pedal actuator support bracket 61 to the pedal actuator support 51in a direction perpendicular to the pedal actuator support 51 whilefitting the hollow part 62 onto the tubular part 52, the hollow part 62and the tubular part 52 are relatively tightly fitted together, and themating surface 61 a contacts the plate part 51 a of the pedal actuatorsupport 51. The support-side connector 53 and the bracket-side connector63 are also electrically connected.

The lock pin 67 is provided at a position corresponding to a position ofthe lock hole 54 a of the grommet 54 of the pedal actuator support 51.The lock pin 67 has, at a head portion thereof, a knob 66 for allowing aturning operation by hand or with fingers. The lock mechanism 65 formedby the lock pin 67 and the grommet 54 has substantially the samestructure as that of the lock mechanism 143 (the lock pin 144 and thegrommet 121) for fixing the transmission actuator unit 131 and the lockmechanism 154 (the lock pin 155 and the grommet 162) for fixing theshifting actuator 134. With engagement (locking) of this lock mechanism65, the pedal actuator support bracket 61 is surely fixed to the pedalactuator support 51. In other words, the whole pedal actuator 41 isfixed to and supported by the pedal actuator support 51. In particular,since the lock mechanism 65 is located at the upper side with respect tothe tubular part 52 and the hollow part 62, the lock mechanism 65 surelybears the moment acting downward with a fitting portion of the tubularpart 52 and the hollow part 62 being a supporting point. Further, sincethe tubular part 52 of the fitting portion has a closed sectionalstructure, a high bonding strength (or a high connecting strength) canbe obtained.

The pedal actuator support bracket 61 has, on a surface opposite to themating surface 61 a, an arm part 64 that extends in the horizontaldirection. One end portion of the long thin plate-shaped link arm 68 islinked with the arm part 64 through a fixing screw 72 serving as arotation axis. The other end portion of the link arm 68 is linked withthe slide bracket 69 through a fixing screw 73 serving as a rotationaxis. The fixing screws 72 and 73 have, at head portions thereof,substantially cross-shaped grip portions 72 a and 73 a respectively forallowing a turning operation by hand or with fingers.

FIG. 36 is an enlarged perspective view of a B-part of FIG. 35. FIG. 36illustrates details of the arm part 64 and the one end portion of thelink arm 68 linked together through the fixing screw 72. The arm part 64is formed on one side, in the vehicle width direction, of the pedalactuator support bracket 61, and the link arm 68 is sandwiched betweenthe grip portion 72 a of the fixing screw 72 and the arm part 64. Thearm part 64 and the link arm 68 can rotate (pivot) with the fixing screw72 being a center (a pivot). On the other hand, a bracket-sideengagement disk 70 is provided on an inner side surface (a surfacefacing to the link arm 68) of the arm part 64, and a link-sideengagement disk 71 that faces to the bracket-side engagement disk 70 isprovided at the link arm 68. Then, by engagement of these engagementdisks 70 and 71, the rotation of the link arm 68 relative to the armpart 64 or vice versa is stopped or restrained. That is, facing surfacesof the opposing engagement disks 70 and 71 are convexo-concave surfaceshaving radially-extending engagement grooves (or radially-extendingengagement protrusions), and by tightening the fixing screw 72 screwedinto the arm part 64 side, the convexo-concave surfaces of theengagement disks 70 and 71 are pressed against each other, then the linkarm 68 is firmly fixed to the arm part 64. When loosening the fixingscrew 72, the engagement of the convexo-concave surfaces of theengagement disks 70 and 71 is loosened, then the link arm 68 can berotated relative to the arm part 64 with the fixing screw 72 being thecenter (the pivot). With this, angle adjustment becomes possible.

A relationship between the other end portion of the link arm 68 and theslide bracket 69 is also the same as the configuration of the arm part64 side shown in FIG. 36, and the link arm 68 and the slide bracket 69have radial facing convexo-concave surfaces. Therefore, after adjustingan angle of the slide bracket 69 (in other words, an angle of theactuator housing 78) with respect to the link arm 68 in a state in whichthe fixing screw 73 is loosened, by tightening the fixing screw 73, theslide bracket 69, i.e. the actuator housing 78, can be fixed to the linkarm 68.

Axial centers of the fixing screws 72 and 73 extend along the vehiclewidth direction. Therefore, a fixing attitude of the pedal actuator 41can be adjusted along a surface orthogonal to the vehicle widthdirection. In particular, by combination of the adjustment in theforward-and-backward direction of the actuator housing 78 through theslide bracket 69 with the angle adjustment at the both end portions ofthe link arm 68, it is possible to meet the pedal position and aninclination or a gradient of the pedal which are different depending onthe vehicle types.

The pedal actuator 41 can be attached to and detached from the pedalactuator support 51 with the pedal actuator 41 remaining combined withthe link arm 68 and the pedal actuator support bracket 61. As describedabove, by fitting the hollow part 62 of the pedal actuator supportbracket 61 onto the tubular part 52 of the pedal actuator support 51 andby turning the lock pin 67 by an angle of predetermined degrees by theturning operation, the whole pedal actuator 41 can be fixed to the pedalactuator support 51. Conversely, by turning the lock pin 67 to anopening position (an unlocked position) by the turning operation and bypulling out the pedal actuator support bracket 61 toward the vehiclefront side, the pedal actuator 41 can be detached from the slide rail 31(in other words, from the frame 11).

A cable leading to the electric motor 81 of the pedal actuator 41 isrouted through an inside of the actuator housing 78, and its end isdrawn out of the actuator housing 78 from an end portion, on the linkarm 68 side, of the actuator housing 78 and connected to thebracket-side connector 63 through an inside of the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 61, although this drawing is omitted.

Therefore, by attaching the pedal actuator support bracket 61 to thepedal actuator support 51, electrical connection through the connectors53 and 63 is established at the same time. Because of this, there is noexternal cable and no connector between the pedal actuator support 51and the pedal actuator 41.

As described above, since the pedal actuator 41 is easily attached(fixed) and detached (dismounted), when mounting the automatic vehicledriving device 1 in the vehicle, in a state in which the pedal actuator41 remains dismounted from the frame 11 (the slide rail 31), the frame11 is fixed and supported above the driver's seat 2, and after that, thepedal actuator 41 can be fixed in the interior of the vehicle.Conversely, when dismounting the automatic vehicle driving device 1 fromthe vehicle, the pedal actuator 41 is detached on ahead, then the frame11 can be carried out of the vehicle. It is therefore possible toreadily carry the automatic vehicle driving device 1 into and out of thevehicle interior through the door opening of the vehicle. In addition,each position adjustment of the pedal actuators 41 relative to thepedals 45, 46 and 47 can be easily performed in the vehicle interiorafter the pedal actuators 41 are fixed to the frame 11.

[Configuration of Clutch Pedal Actuator 41C]

In the vehicle with the manual transmission, in general, the clutchpedal 47 moves along an arc and its stroke (a depressing operationamount) is relatively large. In the present embodiment, by takingaccount of such characteristics of the clutch pedal 47, the clutch pedalactuator 41C differs from the other two pedal actuators 41A and 41B indetails.

FIGS. 37 to 40 show the clutch pedal actuator 41C. FIG. 37 is anenlarged perspective view of a C-part of FIG. 35.

One of the different points is a structure of a linkage portion betweenthe pedal actuator support bracket 61 and the link arm 68. Forconvenience in describing, as shown in FIG. 35, the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 61 for the accelerator pedal actuator 41A and the pedalactuator support bracket 61 for the brake pedal actuator 41B are denotedby references 61A and 61B respectively, and the pedal actuator supportbracket 61 for the clutch pedal actuator 41C is denoted by a reference61C.

As mentioned above, the pedal actuator support bracket 61A for theaccelerator pedal 45 and the pedal actuator support bracket 61B for thebrake pedal 46 have the same structure. In the case of these pedalactuator support brackets 61A and 61B, the single arm part 64 and thelink arm 68 are fixed together with the fixing screw 72 after the angleadjustment (see FIG. 36).

In contrast to this, the pedal actuator support bracket 61C for theclutch pedal 47 has, as shown in FIG. 37, a pair of arm parts 64 a and64 b, and the link arm 68 is sandwiched between these pair of arm parts64 a and 64 b. The link arm 68 for the clutch pedal 47 has, at one endthereof, a cylindrical bearing portion 75, and this bearing portion 75is rotatably supported through a rotation shaft 76 whose both ends arefixed to the pair of arm parts 64 a and 64 b. That is, in the case ofthe clutch pedal actuator 41C, the pedal actuator support bracket 61Cand the link arm 68 are rotatably or pivotably linked with each other.

A linkage portion between the link arm 68 and the slide bracket 69 forthe clutch pedal actuator 41C is not different from those for theaccelerator pedal actuator 41A and the brake pedal actuator 41B. Thatis, by tightening the fixing screw 73 after the angle adjustment, theslide bracket 69 is fixed to the link arm 68.

A second different point is that the clutch pedal actuator 41C has, atthe top end of the rack shaft 80, a pivotal plate 87 instead of theaforementioned roller 86. That is, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, thepivotal plate 87 is connected to the top end of the rack shaft 80 so asto be able to tilt or rotate through the load cell joint 85. Thispivotal plate 87 is placed on a pedal part 183 of the clutch pedal 47 soas to overlap the pedal part 183, and fixed to the pedal part 183 with aproper jig or a fixing tool (both not shown). The pivotal plate 87 ispivotably supported by a pin 87 a so as to have a rotation axis (or apivot) along the vehicle width direction, like the roller 86.

FIGS. 39 and 40 are drawings for describing an extending-and-retractingmovement of the clutch pedal actuator 41C. The clutch pedal 47 isgenerally rotatably or pivotably supported by the vehicle at an upperend of a lever 181 of the clutch pedal 47 through a lever pin 182, andthe pedal part 183 is fixedly provided at a lower end of the lever 181.Therefore, an inclination of a pedal surface 183 a changes according tothe stroke (depression) of the clutch pedal 47. More specifically, asshown in FIG. 39, in a state in which the clutch pedal 47 is notdepressed, the pedal surface 183 a faces obliquely upward. Then, as theclutch pedal 47 is depressed, as shown in FIG. 40, the pedal surface 183a is almost vertical. Further, in extreme cases, conversely, the pedalsurface 183 a faces obliquely downward.

If the roller 86 contacts the pedal surface 183 a in the same manner asthe accelerator pedal actuator 41A and the brake pedal actuator 41B,there is a risk that the roller 86 will fall off the pedal surface 183 adue to the angle change of the pedal surface 183 a, and an accuratestroke cannot be obtained.

In contrast to this, in the case of the clutch pedal actuator 41C in thepresent embodiment, since the pivotal plate 87 provided at the top endof the rack shaft 80 is fixed to the pedal part 183, the clutch pedalactuator 41C can surely perform the pressing operation of the pedal part183 regardless of the angle change of the pedal surface 183 a.

Further, although a height position of the pedal part 183 changesaccording to the rotation or pivotal movement of the clutch pedal 47 onthe lever pin 182 as a pivot, this change is absorbed by the link arm 68and the pedal actuator support bracket 61C being linked so as to rotateor pivot. In the example illustrated in FIGS. 39 and 40, a slope of theactuator housing 78 relative to a horizontal plane when the clutch pedal47 is not depressed (i.e. during no stroke of the clutch pedal 47) isrelatively steep as shown in FIG. 39, whereas the slope of the actuatorhousing 78 relative to the horizontal plane when the clutch pedal 47 isdepressed to the maximum is relatively gentle as shown in FIG. 40. Sincesuch angle change of the actuator housing 78 is allowed, the rack shaft80 can surely press the pedal part 183 to a limit of the stroke (a limitof the depression of the pedal part 183).

In other words, the accelerator pedal actuator 41A and the brake pedalactuator 41B press the accelerator pedal 45 and the brake pedal 46respectively as the linear motion. In contrast, the clutch pedalactuator 41C presses the clutch pedal 47 while pivoting.

In the embodiment described above, the actuator housing 78 is supportedfrom the lower side of the actuator housing 78 by the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 61 through the slide bracket 69 and the link arm 68, andan extension line L of the rack shaft 80 passes or extends above thepedal actuator support bracket 61. Therefore, a direction of a loadacting on the pivoting pedal part 183 becomes a proper direction.Further, the electric motor 81 part protruding downward from theactuator housing 78 is not excessively lowered during the stroke, theninterference with the vehicle body floor 6 does not easily occur.

Further, a height position of the slide rail 31 supporting the pedalactuator 41 can be lowered, then as shown in FIG. 3 etc., the slide rail31 can be set at a height position close to the front end of the seatcushion 3. This point is also applied to the accelerator pedal actuator41A and the brake pedal actuator 41B.

It is noted that in a case where the stroke (a depression amount) of theclutch pedal 47 is small or where the roller 86 can press the pedal part183 by a structure of the clutch pedal 47, the three pedal actuators 41could have the same structure.

Conversely, the structure like the clutch pedal actuator 41C of theembodiment could also be applied to the accelerator pedal actuator 41Aand/or the brake pedal actuator 41B.

[Application to Vehicle with Automatic Transmission]

As described above, the pedal actuators 41 can be fixed to the frame 11in the vehicle interior after carrying the frame 11 into the vehicleinterior. For instance, in a case where the automatic vehicle drivingdevice 1 is applied to the vehicle with the automatic transmissionhaving no clutch pedal 47, only the accelerator pedal actuator 41A andthe brake pedal actuator 41B, except the clutch pedal actuator 41C, areattached.

With this, as shown in FIG. 41, the automatic vehicle driving device 1used for the vehicle with the automatic transmission is obtained.

As described above, since the pedal actuator 41 is easily attached(fixed) and detached (dismounted), even when a test vehicle on thechassis dynamometer is changed from the vehicle with the manualtransmission to the vehicle with the automatic transmission, theautomatic vehicle driving device 1 can readily meet this change.

[Leg-Power Detecting Structure of Pedal Actuator 41]

The pedal actuators 41 in the embodiment each have a load cell 192 thatdetects a load acting on the rack shaft 80, then the pedal actuators 41can detect leg-powers (or depression forces) (in other words, pedalreaction forces) acting on the pedals 45, 46 and 47.

The rack shaft 80 moves forward and backward along a longitudinaldirection of the actuator housing 78 supported at the front end portionof the frame 11 supported at or by the driver's seat of the vehicle.

FIG. 42 is a sectional view of the load cell joint 85 provided at thetop end portion of the rack shaft 80. As shown in the drawing, the loadcell joint 85 has a cylindrical sleeve 191 that is fitted onto the topend of the rack shaft 80. An inside diameter of the sleeve 191 isgreater than an outside diameter of the rack shaft 80.

The sleeve 191 is attached to the top end of the rack shaft 80 with afixing screw 197 with the sleeve 191 being slidable along a longitudinaldirection (in other words, an axial direction) of the rack shaft 80.Atop end of the fixing screw 197 is engaged with a grooved portion 80 aformed on an outer peripheral surface at the top end of the rack shaft80. The grooved portion 80 a is a recessed portion into which the fixingscrew 197 can be inserted. For instance, the grooved portion 80 a isshaped into an ellipse (an oval shape) along the longitudinal direction(in other words, the axial direction) of the rack shaft 80.

Therefore, by inserting the top end, penetrating the sleeve 191, of thefixing screw 197 into the grooved portion 80 a, the sleeve 191 isattached to the top end of the rack shaft 80 with the slide of thesleeve 191 along the longitudinal direction of the rack shaft 80according to a length of the grooved portion 80 a being permitted.Further, by inserting the top end, penetrating the sleeve 191, of thefixing screw 197 into the grooved portion 80 a, rotation of the sleeve191 on the rack shaft 80 is stopped or restrained. The fixing screw 197is provided with a nut 198 to prevent looseness of the fixing screw 197.

The sleeve 191 encloses an outer periphery of a boundary portion betweenthe rack shaft 80 and a push rod 195, and accommodates theafter-mentioned load cell 192. Atop end of the sleeve 191 is sealed witha cap-shaped retaining member 196. The push rod 195 serving as apedal-side rod is provided at this retaining member 196 with the pushrod 195 penetrating a center of the retaining member 196.

The push rod 195 is, for instance, the so-called rod end bearing. Thepush rod 195 has a bar-shaped (or a rod-shaped) rod part 195 a at a baseend side of the push rod 195 and a cylindrical bearing part 195 b at atop end side of the push rod 195. The rod part 195 a is positioned onthe rack shaft 80 side, and the bearing part 195 b is positioned on theroller 86 side or the pivotal plate 87 side (in the drawing, on thepivotal plate 87 side). The rod part 195 a is screwed into the retainingmember 196. The bearing part 195 b rotatably supports the pin 87 a ofthe pivotal plate 87.

The push rod 195 is locked by a nut 199. The nut also has the functionof performing positioning of the push rod 195. The push rod 195 is setat the top end side of the rack shaft 80 along the longitudinaldirection of the rack shaft 80. That is, the push rod 195 is set so thatan axial center M1 of the rod part 195 a is aligned with an axial centerM2 of the rack shaft 80. The axial center M1 is orthogonal to an axialcenter of the bearing part 195 b. The aforementioned roller 86 or theaforementioned pivotal plate 87 is joined to the bearing part 195 b ofthe push rod 195 protruding from the sleeve 191 (in the drawing, thepivotal plate 87 is joined to the bearing part 195 b).

The load cell 192 is sandwiched between a top end surface (the top end)of the rack shaft 80 and a base end surface (the base end) of the pushrod 195 inside the sleeve 191. A pressing force (a thrust) of the rackshaft 80 is thus transmitted to the push rod 195 through the load cell192.

Therefore, a load that each of the rollers 86 or the pivotal plate 87receives from the respective pedals 45, 46 and 47 when the respectiverack shafts 80 extend and press the respective pedals 45, 46 and 47 actson the load cell 192 through the push rod 195, and is detected as thepedal reaction force. It is noted that the slidable sleeve 191 does notbear a compressive load.

The load cell 192 is aligned with the rack shaft 80 and the push rod 195along the longitudinal direction of these rack shaft 80 and push rod195.

The load cell 192 is shaped into a disc shape. The load cell 192 has, inthe middle thereof, a detection part 192 a that detects the compressiveload. The load cell 192 is set so that a center position of thedetection part 192 a is aligned with the axial center M1 of the push rod195 and the axial center M2 of the rack shaft 80.

That is, the pedal actuator 41 is structured so that the center positionof the detection part 192 a, the axial center M1 of the push rod 195 andthe axial center M2 of the rack shaft 80 are positioned on the samestraight line.

The load cell 192 is retained at the top end of the rack shaft 80through a load cell retaining member 200. The load cell retaining member200 is fixed to the top end surface of the rack shaft 80 with a bolt(not shown). The load cell retaining member 200 has a recessed portion200 a that can retain an outer peripheral edge of one side surface ofthe load cell 192.

The load cell 192 is fitted into or engaged with an inner periphery ofthe recessed portion 200 a of the load cell retaining member 200,thereby preventing the load cell 192 from falling off an opening 191 aof the sleeve 191.

Here, since the sleeve 191 is attached so as to be slidable along thelongitudinal direction of the rack shaft 80, in a no-operation state ofthe rack shaft 80, a minute gap exists between the detection part 192 aof the load cell 192 and the base end of the push rod 195.

As illustrated in the drawing, a cable 193 of the load cell 192 isrouted through a hollow part 194 that is formed at an inner side of therack shaft 80 along the longitudinal direction of the rack shaft 80.That is, the cable 193 extends to the frame 11 side through the innerside of the rack shaft 80. The cable 193 is a cable including the powersupply system and the signal system.

More specifically, the cable 193 of the load cell 192 is drawn out in aradial direction of the sleeve 191 using the opening 191 a of the sleeve191, and penetrates the sleeve 191. Then, the cable 193 of the load cell192 bypasses the load cell retaining member 200 using the opening 191 aof the sleeve 191, and is routed to the hollow part 194 of the rackshaft 80 from a back side of the load cell retaining member 200. Thiscable 193 is connected to the bracket-side connector 63 of the pedalactuator support bracket 61 together with the aforementioned cable (notshown) for the electric motor 81 of the pedal actuator 41.

[Working and Effect]

As described above, by sliding the connection box frame 102, whichserves as a movable frame, of the automatic vehicle driving device 1 ofthe embodiment along the pair of straight main beams 15 a settled in asloping attitude above the driver's seat 2, it is possible to variablyand continuously (seamlessly) adjust the height position of thetransmission actuator unit 131 so as to correspond to the heightposition of the shift lever. In particular, the height position can beeasily adjusted only by the locking and unlocking operations of the lockmechanism 113.

The actuator support plate 105 mounting thereon the transmissionactuator unit 131 is maintained in a horizontal attitude even if theconnection box frame 102 slides in the up-and-down direction (in theforward-and-backward direction). Therefore, the transmission actuatorunit 131 does not tilt or slope. Basically, the attitude of thetransmission actuator unit 131 by which each of the selecting actuator133 and the shifting actuator 134 operates in a horizontal position ismaintained.

Since weight of the connection box unit 101 including the transmissionactuator unit 131 merely acts, as a component of force along a slopeangle of the main beam 15 a, on the lock mechanism 113 fixing theconnection box frame 102, a tightening force required of the lockmechanism 113 is relatively small, and position shift (or movement) ofthe connection box frame 102 (the connection box unit 101) in thedownward direction due to gravitation does not easily occur.

Further, since the connection box frame 102 supporting the transmissionactuator unit 131 is supported by the pair of main beams 15 a at theboth sides in the vehicle width direction, the connection box frame 102,i.e. the transmission actuator unit 131, is firmly supported by theframe 11. Therefore, vibrations of the transmission actuator unit 131(the selecting actuator 133 and the shifting actuator 134) due to anexciting force during the running test are suppressed.

Furthermore, in the embodiment, the pair of long sliders 110 eachprovided on a diagonal line of the side surface of the connection boxframe 102 are engaged with the respective guide rails 20 of the pair ofmain beams 15 a, and are linearly guided with a long span. Therefore,the connection box frame 102 can be surely fixed by the lock mechanisms113 each provided at one position on right and left sides. Also,rigidity of the support of the connection box frame 102 can be high.

As can be understood from FIGS. 12 and 13, a part of the connection boxunit 101 protrudes downward with respect to the sliders 110, i.e. withrespect to the main beams 15 a, and a centroid position (a position ofthe center of mass) of the entirety of the connection box unit 101including the transmission actuator unit 131 gets close to the mainbeams 15 a by this protruding of the connection box unit 101. This isadvantageous in terms of suppression of vibrations of the transmissionactuator unit 131 supported by the frame 11.

Additionally, the transmission actuator unit 131 slides in theup-and-down direction (in the forward-and-backward direction) togetherwith the connection box 106. This thus eliminates the need forcomplicated external wiring between them.

The height position adjustment of the transmission actuator unit 131 canbe performed with the automatic vehicle driving device 1 remainingmounted above the driver's seat 2 as shown in FIG. 1 etc., as describedabove. Therefore, work accompanied by trial and error can be eliminated,and the adjustment can be readily performed so as to optimize apositional relationship with the shift lever after mounting theautomatic vehicle driving device 1 in the vehicle.

Other Embodiment

In the above embodiment, the transmission actuator unit 131 has theconfiguration of the combination of the selecting actuator 133 moving(operating) along the vehicle width direction and the shifting actuator134 moving (operating) along the vehicle longitudinal direction.However, the present invention can be applied to, for instance, as asimple configuration applied to the vehicle with automatic transmission,a configuration in which only an actuator moving (operating) along thevehicle longitudinal direction is provided.

In the above embodiment, the guide rail 20 and the guide slit 21 arearranged in a series at each of the main beams 15 a. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this structure. For instance, themain beams 15 a could each have either one of the guide rail or theguide slit. Also, one of the pair of main beams 15 a could have theguide rail, and other could have the guide slit.

In addition, as the lock mechanism 113, the present invention is notlimited to the mechanism using the roller 111 as described in the aboveembodiment. For instance, a configuration like the fixing screw 55 ofthe pedal actuator support 51 is also possible.

Second Embodiment

Next, an automatic vehicle driving device 301 of a second embodimentwill be described.

[General Configuration of Automatic Vehicle Driving Device 301 of SecondEmbodiment]

FIGS. 43 to 46 show a state in which the automatic vehicle drivingdevice 301 of the second embodiment is mounted above a driver's seat 302of a vehicle. FIGS. 47 to 51 show the automatic vehicle driving device301 in its entirety with the device 301 dismounted from the vehicle.This automatic vehicle driving device 301 is used when carrying out arunning test of the vehicle on a chassis dynamometer (not shown). Theautomatic vehicle driving device 301 performs a pedal operation of anaccelerator pedal etc. and a shift-lever operation of a transmission bysignals from an external controller placed outside the vehicle.

Here, as described later, the automatic vehicle driving device 301 ofthe present embodiment can be used for a vehicle with a manualtransmission having a clutch pedal and for a vehicle with an automatictransmission having no clutch pedal. Further, the automatic vehicledriving device 301 of the present embodiment can be applied to both ofthe so-called right-hand drive vehicle in which the driver's seat is ona right side of the vehicle and the shift-lever operation is done bydriver's left hand and the so-called left-hand drive vehicle in whichthe driver's seat is on a left side of the vehicle and the shift-leveroperation is done by driver's right hand. The embodiment shown in FIGS.43 to 51 illustrate an example of a configuration of the automaticvehicle driving device 301 applied to the right-hand drive vehicle withthe manual transmission having an accelerator pedal 345, a brake pedal346 and a clutch pedal 347.

The driver's seat 302 is supported on a vehicle body floor 306 (see FIG.44) through a fore-and-aft slide mechanism and an up-and-down movementmechanism (both not shown). The driver's seat 302 has a seat cushion 303forming a seat surface on which a driver is seated, a seat back 304supporting driver's back and a headrest 305 supporting driver's head.The seat back 304 generally has the so-called reclining mechanism thatallows adjustment of a tilt angle of the seat back 304 with respect tothe seat cushion 303.

The automatic vehicle driving device 301 is configured mainly from aframe 311 extending obliquely or slantingly downward from a vicinity ofan upper end part of the seat back 304 toward a vehicle front side, apair of legs 312 positioned at a front end of the frame 311 andextending downward along a front end of the seat cushion 303, threepedal actuators 341 extending from the front end of the frame 311 to thevehicle front side and operating the three pedals 345, 346 and 347respectively, a movable unit 401 supported with the movable unit 401floating from the seat cushion 303 and the seat back 304 in the middleof the frame 311, a transmission actuator unit 431 mounted on an uppersurface of the movable unit 401 and a connection box 406 located at afront end portion of the frame 311.

As the pedal actuators 341, they are an accelerator pedal actuator 341Athat operates the accelerator pedal 345, a brake pedal actuator 341Bthat operates the brake pedal 346 and a clutch pedal actuator 341C thatoperates the clutch pedal 347 (see FIGS. 47 and 73). Although thesethree pedal actuators 341 could have exactly the same structure, in thepresent embodiment, by taking into account the fact that the clutchpedal 347 moves along an arc and its stroke (a depressing operationamount) is relatively large, the clutch pedal actuator 341C is differentfrom the other two pedal actuators 341A and 341B in details ofstructure. The accelerator pedal actuator 341A and the brake pedalactuator 341B have substantially the same structure. Here, since a basicstructure is common to the three pedal actuators 341, when there is noneed to distinguish the three pedal actuators 341A, 341B and 341C, theyare collectively called the pedal actuators 341.

The connection box 406 forms a connection unit between a variety ofactuators etc. and a variety of sensors etc. provided at the automaticvehicle driving device 301 and a cable (including a power supply systemand a signal system) drawn into the vehicle from the external controllerplaced outside the vehicle.

The movable unit 401 is configured so as to be able to slide relative tothe frame 311 in a forward-and-backward direction. The movable unit 401serves as a supporting stage of the transmission actuator unit 431. Thismovable unit 401 and the connection box 406 are electrically connectedthrough a flat-band-shaped flexible cable 400. The cable 400 is formedby protecting a plurality of electric wires with a metal-chain-likeflexible protective member. The cable 400 is bent into a U-shape or aJ-shape, then regardless of a slide position of the movable unit 401,both of the movable unit 401 and the connection box 406 can beelectrically connected.

The transmission actuator unit 431 is a unit that operates a shiftlever, which is placed, in the example shown in the drawings, on a leftside of the driver's seat 302. The transmission actuator unit 431 has aconfiguration in which a selecting actuator 433 that performs anoperation (the so-called selecting operation) of the shift lever along avehicle width direction and a shifting actuator 434 that performs anoperation (the so-called shifting operation) of the shift lever along avehicle longitudinal direction are combined. More specifically, thetransmission actuator unit 431 has a grip hand 468 gripping asubstantially spherical knob or grip of a head (not shown) of the shiftlever, and this grip hand 468 moves forward and backward by a motion ofthe shifting actuator 434, and also the shifting actuator 434 moves as awhole along the vehicle width direction by a motion of the selectingactuator 433, then both of the selecting operation and the shiftingoperation are realized.

The automatic vehicle driving device 301 mounted above the driver's seat302 of the vehicle is fixed to the vehicle by being drawn (or pulled)obliquely downward in a rear direction by a belt(s) 325 at both rightand left sides of the driver's seat 302. More specifically, a seatsupport 327 having rigidity is provided at a rear end of the seatcushion 303 to protect the driver's seat 302 from damage, and the belts325 are fastened (attached) to both ends of a laterally long narrow ringportion 329. The seat support 327 has a plate portion 328 extending,like a substantially L-shape, from the rear end of the seat cushion 303to a lower end of the seat back 304, and is attached to a rear side ofthe driver's seat 302 such that the plate portion 328 is inserted fromthe rear side of the driver's seat 302 (i.e. from a rear seat side ofthe vehicle) along a lower surface of the driver's seat 302 (see FIG.44). It is noted that each of right and left ends of the belt 325 isformed into a loop shape through a general-purpose belt tighteningdevice (the so-called load tightening device), and a tighteningoperation is done by this belt tightening device. As described later, ina state in which the automatic vehicle driving device 301 is tightenedand fixed with the belts 325, lower ends of the legs 312 abut againstthe vehicle body floor 306 and an upper end of the frame 311 abutsagainst an upper portion of the seat back 304.

Next, each part forming the automatic vehicle driving device 301 will bedescribed in detail.

[Configurations of Frame 311 and Leg 312]

FIGS. 52 to 54 show configurations or structures of the frame 311 andthe leg 312. The frame 311 is formed into a hollow pipe shape using e.g.carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). The frame 311 has a main frame315 and a sub frame 316, and these are formed as integral parts. Morespecifically, some parts are separately molded, and these molded partsare connected together as an integral frame.

The main frame 315 has a substantially U-shape in plan view (or topview, viewed from an upper side of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 47).That is, the main frame 315 has a pair of main beams 315 a extendingobliquely in the vehicle longitudinal direction and avertically-expanding band-shaped lateral beam 315 b extending along ahorizontal direction and connecting upper ends of the pair of main beams315 a. In a vehicle-mounted state, as an attitude of the main frame 315,the lateral beam 315 b abuts against the upper portion of the seat back304, and the main beams 315 a linearly extend obliquely downward fromthis abutting portion of the lateral beam 315 b toward the front end ofthe seat cushion 303.

The main beam 315 a has a rectangular cross section. A size in avertical direction of the main beam 315 a is relatively small at amiddle portion in a longitudinal direction (the vehicle longitudinaldirection) of the main beam 315 a, and the main beam 315 a expands inthe vertical direction toward a rear end portion of the main beam 315 aand seamlessly continues to the lateral beam 315 b at the rear endportion of the main beam 315 a. The size in the vertical direction ofthe main beam 315 a at a front end portion where the leg 312 is fixed isslightly larger than that at the middle portion of the main beam 315 a.

A width-direction size of the rectangular cross section of the main beam315 a is almost constant at a region from the rear end portion to themiddle portion. Then, the width-direction size of the rectangular crosssection gradually increases from the middle portion toward the front endportion. The width-direction size of the rectangular cross section atthe front end portion where the leg 312 is fixed is sufficiently largeas compared with a projected area of the leg 312 so as to form a fixingpart. Further, the front end portions of the pair of main beams 315 aextend or expand inwards so as to continue to the sub frame 316.

The pair of main beams 315 a have a symmetrical shape. In plan view ofthe main frame 315, as shown in FIG. 47, each of the main beams 315 a iscurved into an arch shape such that the pair of main beams 315 a have abarrel shape as a whole. In other words, a distance between the pair ofmain beams 315 a around the middle portion in the vehicle longitudinaldirection is large, and distances between the pair of main beams 315 aat the rear end portion (at the lateral beam 315 b side) and at thefront end portion are small as compared with that at the middle portion.

Further, in side view, the shape of the main beam 315 a is notcompletely straight, but is curved gently into an arch shape so as torelatively resemble a shape formed by the seat back 304 and the seatcushion 303 (see FIG. 53).

The pair of main beams 315 a each have, on upper surfaces at the middleportions thereof, a belt loop (s) 326 through which the band-shaped belt325 passes. The belt loop 326 is formed of a flat U-shaped metal member.The belt 325 is attached to the main beam 315 a with the belt 325passing through a gap formed between the surface of the main beam 315 aand the belt loop 326. The middle portion, where this belt loop 326 islocated, of the main beam 315 a is thinnest (a length of a circumferenceof the main beam 315 a is shortest), and the distance between the pairof main beams 315 a at the middle portion is largest. Since the pair ofmain beams 315 a swell or curve outward in the width direction atportions where the belts 325 are attached in this manner, as shown inFIG. 44, the belts 325 extending from the seat support 327 are setrelatively straight (i.e. without inclining relative to the vehiclelongitudinal direction) without interfering with the seat cushion 303etc. in a vehicle-mounted state. Therefore, the belt 325 does not biteside edges of the seat cushion 303 and the seat back 304, therebysuppressing damage to the seat cushion 303 and the seat back 304. Here,as an embodiment, in order to be able to adjust an attachment positionof the belt 325, the plurality of belt loops 326 are arranged in series.

The lateral beam 315 b of the main frame 315 has a slightly-tiltedsubstantially rectangular plate shape so as to correspond to a basictilt angle of the seat back 304, and forms a seat back abutting partthat abuts against the vicinity of the upper end part of the seat back304 in the vehicle-mounted state. By properly adjusting the tilt of theseat back 304 by the reclining mechanism, a substantially rectangularouter side surface of the lateral beam 315 b comes intowide-surface-contact with the seat back 304. Here, rubber parts 330 madeof elastomer having a proper elasticity are provided on surfaces at bothshoulder portions, abutting against the seat back 304, of the frame 311,i.e. at both end portions of an upper edge of the lateral beam 315 b(corner portions continuing or connecting to the main beams 315 a).

When reaction forces in afore-and-aft direction occurring due to workingof the pedal actuators 341 and/or the shifting actuator 434 act on theframe 311, the both shoulder portions as a rear end of the frame 311 arepressed hard against the seat back 304. However, by providing theelastic rubber parts 330 at these shoulder portions, damage to the seatback 304 is suppressed. These rubber parts 330 also have the function ofsuppressing a slip relative to the seat skin of the seat back 304.Although the rubber parts 330 could be attached (or stuck)simultaneously upon final molding of the frame 311, the rubber parts 330may be bonded in a later process.

The seat back 304 generally has an upper pad portion 304 a and a lowerpad portion 304 b whose inside materials (also whose hardness) aredifferent from each other. A basic size (dimensions) of each part of themain frame 315 is set so that a lower edge of the of the lateral beam315 b (i.e. a lower edge of the seat back abutting part) issubstantially positioned along seams 304 c of the seat skin which definea boundary between the upper pad portion 304 a and the lower pad portion304 b (see FIG. 54). Although a concrete configuration of the seat back304 is different depending on the vehicle types as a matter of course,in many cases, a position of the boundary between the upper pad portion304 a and the lower pad portion 304 b is almost fixed. Since the seams304 c are relatively recessed, by mounting the automatic vehicle drivingdevice 301 (the frame 311) in the vehicle with the lateral beam 315 b ofthe main frame 315 being aligned with this position of the seams 304 c,positioning of the automatic vehicle driving device 301 is facilitated,and also an attitude of the frame 311 becomes stable. Here, as a matterof course, the automatic vehicle driving device 301 can be mountedregardless of the position of the seams 304 c depending on the vehicletypes.

The sub frame 316 is located at an inner side of the barrel-shaped mainframe 315 swelling or curving outward as described above. The sub frame316 has a substantially U-shape as a whole in plan view. The sub frame316 has a pair of straight sub beams 316 a located parallel to eachother, a hollow-plate-shaped lateral beam 316 b connecting lower ends ofthe pair of sub beams 316 a and a connection box supporting part 316 cbent from a lower end of the lateral beam 316 b and extending forward.

The pair of sub beams 316 a and the lateral beam 316 b extend along oneslanting plane corresponding to a slope of the main frame 315. In otherwords, the pair of sub beams 316 a and the lateral beam 316 b are formedinto a shape that is made by cutting off a cutting portion from aninclined band-shaped or long-narrow rectangular parent material into aU-shape. Each sub beam 316 a has a rectangular cross section close to asquare. The connection box supporting part 316 c is formed so as to beon or along a horizontal plane relative to such slanting sub beams 316 aand lateral beam 316 b in the vehicle-mounted state. Therefore, thesesub beams 316 a and lateral beam 316 b continue to the connection boxsupporting part 316 c at predetermined angles.

The connection box supporting part 316 c located on or along thehorizontal plane is positioned with the connection box supporting part316 c sandwiched between the front end portions of the pair of mainbeams 315 a of the main frame 315, and is fixedly connected to eachother (or is formed integrally with each other). That is, the main frame315 formed into the substantially U-shape in plan view has a closedstructure through the connection box supporting part 316 c. Rear ends(i.e. upper ends) of the sub beams 316 a are connected to an inner sidesurface of the lower edge of the lateral beam 315 b of the main frame315. As mentioned above, the main frame 315 and the sub frame 316 arefixedly connected to each other (or formed integrally with each other)as a molded component using e.g. carbon fiber reinforced plastics(CFRP).

In side view, as shown in FIGS. 52 and 53, the slope of the sub frame316 in its entirety and the slope of the main frame 315 in its entiretysubstantially correspond to each other. However, the main beams 315 agently curve, whereas the sub beams 316 a extend straight. The sub frame316 functions to reinforce the main frame 315 surrounding an outside ofthe sub frame 316, and also as described later, functions as asupporting member and as a guiding member that slidably support themovable unit 401.

The connection box 406 is placed by being embedded in or fitted into theconnection box supporting part 316 c of the hollow-pipe-shaped sub frame316. That is, a display panel 409 on an upper surface of the connectionbox 406 is placed along an upper surface of the connection boxsupporting part 316 c, and its inside mechanism is accommodated in ahollow portion of the sub frame 316. The display panel 409 has a displaypart 409 a formed of liquid crystal etc., and has a plurality ofsmall-sized connectors 409 b. Further, a light switch 409 c forperforming an ON/OFF operation of an after-mentioned LED light 376 isprovided on the display panel 409. As shown in FIG. 51, a metal platelower cover 408 of the connection box 406 is detachably attached to alower surface of the connection box supporting part 316 c.

Further, as shown in FIG. 51, a relatively large-sized main connector407 is provided on a rear side of a lower portion of the connection box406. This main connector 407 is located under (or below) the lateralbeam 316 b of the sub frame 316, and is set so as to be directed to avehicle rear side. A relatively large-sized centralized connector (or arelatively large-sized integrated connector) 416 (see FIG. 51) of a topend of the cable (not shown) drawn into the vehicle from the externalcontroller is connected the main connector 407.

The flat-band-shaped cable 400 for electrically connecting the movableunit 401 and the connection box 406 is connected to the connection box406 above the main connector 407, and reaches the movable unit 401through a space between the pair of sub beams 316 a of the sub frame316. This cable 400 is structured so as not to curve to its outerperipheral side by the chain-like protective member, and allows themovement of the movable unit 401 while holding the shape of letter U orletter J substantially along the slope of the sub beams 316 a.

As illustrated in FIGS. 51 and 53, metal guide rails 320 for slidablyguiding the movable unit 401, which will be described later, are fixedto lower surfaces of the pair of sub beams 316 a. Each channel-shapedguide rail 320 is fixed with its rail surface facing toward the lowerside. The channel-shaped guide rail 320 extends throughout the entirelength of the sub beam 316 a from a position close to the rear end (i.e.the upper end) of the sub beam 316 a to a position where a part of theguide rail 320 overlaps an area of the lateral beam 316 b.

On each of lower surfaces of lower ends (front ends) of the main frame315 which are on an open end side of the U-shape and connected to eachother through the connection box supporting part 316 c of the sub frame316, i.e. on each of lower surfaces of the front end portions of thepair of main beams 315 a, a disc-shaped leg fixing seat portion 333 isformed. The cylindrical leg 312 is fixed to this leg fixing seat portion333. The leg 312 is provided, at an upper end thereof, with a male screwprotruding along a center line of the leg 312. On the other hand, theleg fixing seat portion 333 is provided, at a center thereof, with ametal nut portion (not shown). Then, by screwing the male screw of theleg 312 into the nut portion, the leg 312 is detachably connected to theleg fixing seat portion 333. For instance, when mounting the automaticvehicle driving device 301 in the vehicle, in a state in which the legs312 are disconnected, the frame 311 is placed on the driver's seat 302.Then after that, the legs 312 can be easily connected to the respectiveleg fixing seat portions 333.

In the shown embodiment, each of the legs 312 is provided, at a lowerend thereof, with a height adjustment screw 313. Then, fine adjustmentis possible so that the legs 312 surely abut against the vehicle bodyfloor 306 in the vehicle-mounted state.

The main beams 315 a are each provided, on the upper surfaces of lowerends (the front end portions) thereof, with a spherical optional partmounting portion 314. This optional part mounting portion 314 is locatedat a position that overlaps the leg 312 in plan view. That is, the leg312 and the optional part mounting portion 314 are arranged at oppositesides of the main beam 315 a, i.e. the leg 312 is located at the lowersurface side of the main beam 315 a, and the optional part mountingportion 314 is located at the upper surface side of the main beam 315 a.The optional part mounting portion 314 is used for mounting certainoptional parts such as an air-conditioner actuator.

A pedal actuator support slide rail 331 extending in the vehicle widthdirection is fixed to front end surfaces of the pair of main beams 315a. The pair of main beams 315 a are coupled together through this pedalactuator support slide rail 331.

The slide rail 331 has, at aback surface thereof, a pair of right andleft rail supporting brackets 332. The slide rail 331 is then fixed tothe front end surfaces of the main beams 315 a through these brackets332 so as to face toward the vehicle front side. The slide rail 331 ismade of metal material in order to have sufficient rigidity, and isshaped into a long narrow plate. In the shown embodiment, the slide rail331 is fixedly connected to or formed integrally with the railsupporting brackets 332. The open end of the substantially U-shape ofthe main frame 315 is closed by this pedal actuator support slide rail331. That is, as shown in FIG. 47, a closed rectangle or a closed barrelshape in plan view is formed by the main frame 315 and the slide rail331.

The pedal actuator support slide rail 331 has, at upper and lower edgeson a front surface side thereof, a first guide surface 331 a and asecond guide surface 331 b each having a semicircle in cross section.The slide rail 331 slidably supports pedal actuator supports 351 bythese first and second guide surfaces 331 a and 331 b. In the exampleshown in FIGS. 43 to 54, three pedal actuator supports 351 are providedso as to correspond to the three pedal actuators 341 (the acceleratorpedal actuator 341A, the brake pedal actuator 341B and the clutch pedalactuator 341C). Details of the pedal actuator support 351 and each pedalactuator 341 fixed to the pedal actuator support 351 will be describedlater. Here, in the shown example, for weight reduction, a number ofopenings are provided at the pedal actuator support slide rail 331having the long narrow plate as a whole. Further, unnecessary portionsare cut out for lightening. Then, the upper and lower edge portionsforming the first and second guide surfaces 331 a and 331 b each have abar-shape appearance which is semicircular in cross section.

FIG. 54 shows a state in which the frame 311 is mounted above thedriver's seat 302. As described above, the belts 325 are wound (orbound) around the frame 311 and the seat support 327 provided at a backof the driver's seat 302, and by tightening these belts 25 using thebelt tightening device (not shown), the frame 311 is fixed above thedriver's seat 302. In this mounted state, as an attitude of the frame311, the frame 311 extends obliquely or slantingly downward from theupper end part of the seat back 304 toward the front end of the seatcushion 303. More specifically, the band-shaped lateral beam 315 b,serving as the seat back abutting part, of the main frame 315 comes intowide-surface-contact with the upper portion of the seat back 304, andthe main beams 315 a extend obliquely from this abutting portion of thelateral beam 315 b toward the front end of the seat cushion 303. Thefront end portions of the main beams 315 a slightly protrude from thefront end of the seat cushion 303.

The legs 312 extend downward along the front end of the seat cushion 303from the front end of the frame 311, and their lower ends each havingthe height adjustment screw 313 abut against the vehicle body floor 306.Basically, each leg 312 is set to a vertical attitude on the vehiclebody floor 306.

Arrows F1, F2 and F3 in FIG. 44 indicate loads that occur at supportpoints by tightening of the belts 325. The frame 311 is drawn (orpulled) obliquely downward as indicated by the arrow F1 by tightening ofthe belts 325 that are linked to or engaged with the belt loops 326 ofthe frame 311. By this tensile force (tension or tractive force), asindicated by the arrow F2, the legs 312 are pressed against the vehiclebody floor 306. Further, as indicated by the arrow F3, the seat backabutting part of the upper end (the rear end) of the frame 311, i.e. thelateral beam 315 b, is pressed against the upper end part of the seatback 304. The frame 311 including the main frame 315 and the sub frame316 is not supported by the seat cushion 303. That is, the frame 311 isfixed by a total of three points, i.e. two points of each leg 312 andthe seat back abutting part and a point of application of the tension ofeach belt 325 (i.e. a vicinity of each belt loop 326) in the middle ofthese two points.

As is clear from FIG. 44, the tension application point of the belt 325(the belt loop 326) is positioned in the substantially middle of a line(a virtual straight line) connecting the lower end of the leg 312 andthe seat back abutting part which are fixing points to the vehicle, andalso the tensile force of the belt 325 is exerted in a directionsubstantially orthogonal to the line (the virtual straight line). Theframe 311 is therefore efficiently and firmly supported and fixed.

The seat cushion 303 generally has a flexible structure to ensure ridecomfort. In comparison to this, the seat back 304 has a firm structureto ensure load capacity (or withstand load) at a collision. Therefore,by adequately tightening the belts 325, a large tensile load can beapplied. Further, as compared with a case where the frame 311 (theautomatic vehicle driving device 301) is mounted on the seat cushion303, the frame 311 can be firmly supported.

As shown in FIGS. 44 and 54, a load of the whole automatic vehicledriving device 301 including the transmission actuator unit 431 and thepedal actuators 341 etc. is also exerted on two positions of each of thelegs 312 and the seat back abutting part, but is not exerted on the seatcushion 303. In other words, the load of the automatic vehicle drivingdevice 301 is supported or borne by and at two positions of the vehiclebody floor 306 and the seat back 304. As mentioned above, since the seatback 304 has the firm structure, the automatic vehicle driving device301 is surely supported, and vibrations of the automatic vehicle drivingdevice 301 due to vibrations of the vehicle during the running test andshift (or movement or deviation) of position of the automatic vehicledriving device 301 due to reaction forces occurring when actuating thevarious actuators are suppressed. For instance, as can be understoodfrom FIG. 44, since although the reaction forces of the pedal actuators341 upon working of the pedal actuators 341 are exerted in an obliquelyupward direction, the seat back abutting part (the lateral beam 315 b)is substantially located on and along its reaction force exerting line,the reaction forces are surely borne by the firm seat back 304.

Further, in the show example, since the rubber parts 330 are provided atthe both shoulder portions of the frame 311, i.e. at the both endportions of the upper edge of the lateral beam 315 b, damage to the seatskin of the seat back 304 is suppressed. Further, these rubber parts 330also have the function of suppressing a slip of the frame 311 (thelateral beam 315 b), then a displacement of the whole frame 311 in theforward and backward directions due to the reaction forces of the pedalactuators 341 upon working of the pedal actuators 341 is suppressed.

[Configuration and Sliding Mechanism of Movable Unit 401]

FIG. 50 shows a state in which the movable unit 401 is mounted on theframe 311. FIGS. 55 and 56 show the movable unit 401 alone.

As shown in FIG. 50, the movable unit 401 is placed at an inner side ofthe frame 311. More specifically, the movable unit 401 is placed betweenthe pair of main beams 315 a of the main frame 315.

As shown in FIGS. 55 and 56, the movable unit 401 has a movable frame402 supported by the pair of sub beams 316 a and a rigid actuatorsupport plate 405 positioned at an upper end or on an upper surface ofthis movable frame 402.

The movable frame 402 has a pair of right and left side frames 403forming side surfaces of the movable frame 402 and a box-shaped secondconnection box 404 having a triangular cross section and sandwichedbetween these pair of side frames 403.

Each side frame 403 is a frame formed as one member using e.g. carbonfiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), like the frame 311. The side frame 403has a substantially triangular shape whose vertex angle is an obtuseangle in side view. That is, the side frame 403 has a substantiallytriangular shape having one side 403 a that is basically horizontal inthe vehicle-mounted state, the other side 403 c that extends obliquelydownward from a front end of this one side 403 a and a base 403 b thatextends obliquely along the sub beam 316 a. The side frame 403 has aplurality of opening window portions so as to have a truss structure.

The pair of side frames 403 are connected by the second connection box404. The second connection box 404 has a front wall 404 a extendingalong the other side 403 c of the side frame 403, a rear wall 404 bsloping so as to be parallel to the base 403 b of the side frame 403 anda pair of side walls 404 c adjacent to the respective side frames 403.The second connection box 404 accommodates wires etc. (not shown) in itsinside space. A top end of the aforementioned flat-band-shaped cable 400extending from the connection box 406 is connected to the secondconnection box 404 from the rear wall 404 b side.

Substantially rectangular plate-shaped slider cover plates 411 are fixedto the respective bases 403 b of the pair of side frames 403. The pairof slider cover plates 411 are provided so as to protrude inwards fromthe respective side frames 403. That is, the pair of side frames 403 arelocated at vehicle width direction outer sides of the respective subbeams 316 a with the side frames 403 being adjacent to the respectivesub beams 316 a, and the slider cover plates 411 protrude from therespective bases 403 b of the pair of side frames 403 so as to cover thelower surfaces of the sub beams 316 a. Two front and rear sliders 410corresponding to the aforementioned guide rail 320 provided at the lowersurface of the sub beam 316 a are fixed to an upper surface of eachslider cover plate 411 which faces to the lower surface of the sub beam316 a (see FIG. 56). The sliders 410 are slidably engaged with thechannel-shaped guide rail 320 of each sub beam 316 a. With thisengagement of the sliders 410 and the guide rail 320, a load of themovable unit 401 is supported or borne, and also the movable unit 401 isslidably guided in a direction along the sub beam 316 a.

As the guide rail 320 and the slider 410, general-purpose parts that areavailable from market can be used. The two sliders 410 are provided atfront and rear positions of each slider cover plate 411, and as thewhole movable unit 401, the slider 410 is four in number in total atapexes of a rectangular shape, thereby achieving a smooth movement ofthe movable unit 401 (a smooth sliding operation when adjusting theposition of the movable unit 401), and also thereby obtaining highrigidity against a reaction force acting on the movable unit 401 whenactuating the transmission actuator unit 431. Further, generally,rigidity and guiding accuracy in a width direction (in a direction alonga fixing surface) of the guide rail 320 in a guide mechanism structuredby combination of the guide rail 320 and the slider 410 are high.Therefore, by the shown configuration in which the pair of guide rails320 are arranged with attitudes of the guide rails 320 (or an attitudeof the movable unit 401) facing downward in the vertical direction,rigidity of the support of the movable unit 401 in the vehicle widthdirection can be high.

Here, it is desirable to employ a structure in which at least one of thetwo front and rear sliders 410 is provided with friction against theguide rail 320 to such an extent that the movable unit 401 does not moveby its own weight.

Each of the slider cover plates 411 is provided with a fixing screw 413screwed into a screw hole that penetrates the slider cover plate 411.The fixing screw 413 has a structure allowing a turning operation byhand or with fingers, and a top end of the fixing screw 413 presses apad or a shoe (both not shown) between the two front and rear sliders410. That is, when screwing this fixing screw 413 toward the guide rail320, the top end of the fixing screw 413 presses the guide rail 320through the pad or the shoe, then a slide mechanism is locked so thatthe movable unit 401 does not move. The operator or the workman caneasily reach the fixing screw 413 through a gap or a space between theseat cushion 303 or the seat back 304 and the main frame 315.

The actuator support plate 405 formed of metal plate has a rectangularshape in plan view. The actuator support plate 405 is set along thehorizontal one sides 403 a of the triangular side frames 403. Theactuator support plate 405 is fixed to upper surfaces of the one sides403 a of the side frames 403, and couples the pair ofparallel-positioned side frames 403. A size in the vehicle widthdirection of the actuator support plate 405 is greater than a size (awidth or a length) in the vehicle width direction from one to the otherof the pair of side frames 403. Therefore, side portions at both sidesof the actuator support plate 405 protrude outwards from the respectiveside frames 403. The second connection box 404 is fixed so as to cover alower surface of the actuator support plate 405. Here, in plan view, theactuator support plate 405 is positioned on a front side of the movableframe 402, and rear end portions of the side frames 403 protrudebackward from the actuator support plate 405.

As described later, the transmission actuator unit 431 is detachablymounted on an upper surface of the actuator support plate 405 (see FIGS.57 and 58). For mounting this transmission actuator unit 431, grommets421 each having a lock hole 421 a are embedded in the actuator supportplate 405 at two of four corners of the rectangular actuator supportplate 405. That is, the grommets 421 include a front side grommet 421Aand a rear side grommet 421B, and these grommets are arranged on adiagonal line of the rectangular shape. Since these grommets have thesame structure, when there is no need to distinguish these grommets,they are collectively called the grommets 421.

The actuator support plate 405 is provided with transmission actuatorunit connectors 423 for electrically connecting with the transmissionactuator unit 431. The transmission actuator unit connectors 423 includea front side connector 423A and a rear side connector 423B. The frontside connector 423A is located at a front side of the actuator supportplate 405, and is adjacent to the front side grommet 421A. The rear sideconnector 423B is located at a rear side of the actuator support plate405, and is adjacent to the rear side grommet 421B. Since theseconnectors have the same structure, when there is no need to distinguishthese connectors, they are collectively called the transmission actuatorunit connectors 423. As the transmission actuator unit connector 423, aconnector structured such that a terminal strip protrudes upward fromthe upper surface of the actuator support plate 405 (i.e. from a fixingsurface of the transmission actuator unit 431) and the terminal strip isin a floating state to allow some position shift (or some deviation ofposition) from the other mating side is used. Further, each transmissionactuator unit connector 423 is provided with a guide pin 423 a and aguide sleeve 423 b to perform positioning with the other mating-sideconnector and to guide the other mating-side connector when insertingthe other mating-side connector into the transmission actuator unitconnector 423. As the transmission actuator unit connector 423,general-purpose parts that are available from market can be used. Eachterminal of the transmission actuator unit connector 423 is connected tothe wire accommodated in the second connection box 404, then isconnected to the connection box 406 from the second connection box 404through the cable 400.

The front side grommet 421A and the front side connector 423A located atthe front side of the actuator support plate 405 and the rear sidegrommet 421B and the rear side connector 423B located at the rear sideof the actuator support plate 405 are symmetrical about a center, as asymmetrical point, of the rectangular actuator support plate 405. Thatis, when the actuator support plate 405 is turned 180 degrees,arrangement and configuration of these grommets and connectors overlapeach other.

Further, the actuator support plate 405 has rectangular locatingopenings 424 for positioning of the transmission actuator unit 431. Thelocating openings 424 include a front side locating opening 424A and arear side locating opening 424B. The front side locating opening 424A isprovided at the front side of the actuator support plate 405 andpositioned at an opposite side to the front side grommet 421A in thevehicle width direction. The rear side locating opening 424B is providedat the rear side of the actuator support plate 405 and positioned at anopposite side to the rear side grommet 421B in the vehicle widthdirection. The front side locating opening 424A and the rear sidelocating opening 424B are also symmetrical about a center, as asymmetrical point, of the rectangular actuator support plate 405.

The actuator support plate 405 further has, at right and left side edgesthereof, substantially U-shaped locating cutting portions 425 forpositioning of the transmission actuator unit 431. These two locatingcutting portions 425 are located at middle portions of the respectiveright and left side edges, and are symmetric with respect to a line andalso symmetrical about a center of the actuator support plate 405.

FIGS. 48 to 50 show a state in which the transmission actuator unit 431is mounted on the upper surface of the movable unit 401. FIGS. 48 to 50are drawings for describing a position adjustment of the movable unit401 with respect to the frame 311. As described above, the movable unit401 can be slid upward and downward (i.e. forward and backward) alongthe sub beams 316 a of the frame 311. FIG. 48 illustrates a state inwhich the movable unit 401 is set to a relatively high position. FIGS.49 and 50 illustrate a state in which the movable unit 401 is set to arelatively low position. With such position adjustment of the movableunit 401, a height position of the transmission actuator unit 431, i.e.a basic height position of the grip hand 468, is changed, thereby widelymeeting the shift lever whose height and/or length are differentdepending on the vehicle types.

Here, when the position of the movable unit 401 is set to be high asshown in FIG. 48, the transmission actuator unit 431 is located at arelatively backward position, whereas when the position of the movableunit 401 is set to be low as shown in FIG. 49 etc., the transmissionactuator unit 431 is located at a relatively forward position. However,such change of forward-and-backward direction can be absorbed by settingof an initial position of the shifting actuator 434 that moves(actuates) in the forward and backward directions. For instance, in acase where a fore-and-aft position of the shift lever in the vehicle inthe case of FIG. 48 is the same as that in the case of FIG. 49, if theposition of the movable unit 401 is set to be high as shown in FIG. 48,a distance to the shift lever is relatively long. However, in this case,a position at which the grip hand 468 protrudes relatively long is setto a reference position of the control, thereby readily meeting suchcase.

As described later, in the shown embodiment, the shifting actuator 434can pivot (or rotate or tilt) upward and downward relative to theselecting actuator 433. Therefore, also with this upward-and-downwardrotation, it is possible to meet some difference in height position ofthe shift lever head.

The upward-and-downward and forward-and-backward position adjustment ofthe movable unit 401 (i.e. the upward-and-downward andforward-and-backward position adjustment of the transmission actuatorunit 431) described above can be performed with the automatic vehicledriving device 301 remaining mounted above the driver's seat 302 asshown in FIG. 43 etc. Therefore, work accompanied by trial and error canbe eliminated, and the adjustment can be readily performed so as tooptimize a positional relationship with the shift lever after mountingthe automatic vehicle driving device 301 in the vehicle.

[Configuration and Attachable-and-Detachable Structure of TransmissionActuator Unit 431]

The transmission actuator unit 431 has a structure by which thetransmission actuator unit 431 can be easily attached to and detachedfrom the movable unit 401. Further, by reversing a mounting attitude ofthe transmission actuator unit 431 (the orientation of the transmissionactuator unit 431 in a fore-and-aft direction) 180 degrees with respectto the movable unit 401, the transmission actuator unit 431 can readilymeet the so-called right-hand drive vehicle and the so-called left-handdrive vehicle.

FIGS. 50, 51 and 57 show a state in which the transmission actuator unit431 is detached or dismounted from movable unit 401. FIGS. 59 to 64 showthe detached transmission actuator unit 431 alone.

As mentioned above, the transmission actuator unit 431 has theconfiguration of the combination of the selecting actuator 433performing the selecting operation of the shift lever along the vehiclewidth direction and the shifting actuator 434 performing the shiftingoperation of the shift lever along the vehicle longitudinal direction.

The transmission actuator unit 431 has a relatively thick base plate 432having high rigidity. The selecting actuator 433 is configured on thisbase plate 432. The selecting actuator 433 has an actuator housing 435having a long narrow box shape extending along the vehicle widthdirection, and this actuator housing 435 is fixed onto the base plate432. The selecting actuator 433 further has a box-shaped connector cover437 at one side in the middle in a longitudinal direction of theactuator housing 435 and a box-shaped motor cover 438 at the other sidein the middle in the longitudinal direction of the actuator housing 435.In the shown example, the connector cover 437 is formed integrally withthe actuator housing 435.

The base plate 432 is shaped into a flat plate, and has, as shown inFIGS. 59 and 60 etc., an outside shape that is drawn substantially alongoutlines of outer peripheries of three of the actuator housing 435, theconnector cover 437 and the motor cover 438. That is, the base plate 432has a shape whose both ends in its longitudinal direction are narrow inwidth (in size in the vehicle longitudinal direction) and whose middleis wide in width.

The selecting actuator 433 is a rack-and-pinion type linear-motionactuator in which a rack shaft 441 serving as an actuator rod moves inthe vehicle width direction by working of an electric motor and a speedreducer which are accommodated in the motor cover 438. In a retractingstate of the rack shaft 441, almost entire rack shaft 141 isaccommodated in the actuator housing 435, but only a top end portion ofthe rack shaft 441 protrudes from one end (which is on a left-hand sidewhen the connector cover 437 faces toward the front side of the vehicle)of the actuator housing 435. As described later, the shifting actuator434 is supported by this top end portion of the rack shaft 441. In thecase of the so-called right-hand drive vehicle shown in FIG. 43 etc.,the shifting actuator 434 is located on a left-hand side with respect tothe frame 311 situated above the driver's seat 302 and the movable unit401. It is noted that in order to achieve an accurate linear motion ofthe rack shaft 441 while bearing a load of the shifting actuator 434,the rack shaft 441 is guided by a guide mechanism (not shown) providedin the actuator housing 435.

As shown in FIGS. 59 and 60, at one side portion (one side portion inthe vehicle width direction) of the connector cover 437 and at one sideportion of the motor cover 438 which is on an opposite side to the oneside portion of the connector cover 437, the base plate 432 extends orprotrudes from the outlines of the actuator housing 435, the connectorcover 437 and the motor cover 438, and a pair of extending parts 432 alocated on a diagonal are formed. A shape of a rectangular area in themiddle of the base plate 432 including the extending parts 432 acorresponds to an outside shape of the actuator support plate 405 of themovable unit 401. Then, each of the pair of extending parts 432 a isprovided with a lock pin 444 that forms a lock mechanism 443 togetherwith the above-mentioned grommet 421 of the actuator support plate 405on the movable unit 401 side. A lower end portion of the lock pin 444protrudes downward from the surface of the base plate 432. The lock pin444 has, at an upper end portion thereof, a knob 445 for a turningoperation by hand or with fingers. The lock mechanism 443 is ageneral-purpose screw type mechanism (see FIGS. 57 and 58) which, byturning the lock pin 444 inserted into the lock hole 421 a of thegrommet 421 certain degrees (e.g. 90 degrees or 180 degrees), performslocking accompanied by tightening in an axial direction of the lock pin444.

Here, for convenience in describing, when there is a need to distinguishthe both lock pins 444, the lock pin 444 on the connector cover 437 sideis called a first lock pin 444A, and the lock pin 444 on the motor cover438 side is called a second lock pin 444B.

The pair of lock pins 444 are engaged with the respective grommets 421of the actuator support plate 405. More specifically, as shown in FIG.50 etc., in the case of the so-called right-hand drive vehicle, thefirst lock pin 444A is engaged with the front side grommet 421A locatedat the front side of the actuator support plate 405, and the second lockpin 444B is engaged with the rear side grommet 421B located at the rearside of the actuator support plate 405. When bringing the pair of lockmechanisms 443 to a locked state, the base plate 432 is tightened andfirmly fixed to the actuator support plate 405.

As shown in FIGS. 62 and 64, on a bottom surface of the base plate 432,a transmission actuator-side connector 471 corresponding to thetransmission actuator unit connector 423 of the actuator support plate405 is provided. This connector 471 is located at a position that iscovered with the connector cover 437. More specifically, the connector471 is located at a position corresponding to the front side connector423A when mounting the transmission actuator unit 431 on the actuatorsupport plate 405 in the case of the right-hand drive vehicle. To meetthe structure of the connector 423 on the actuator support plate 405side, the connector 471 has a structure in which a terminal strip is ina floating state, and is provided with a guide pin 471 a and a guidesleeve 471 b. Therefore, mutual positions of the connectors 471 and 423are guided, and only by mounting the transmission actuator unit 431 onthe actuator support plate 405 and tightening the base plate 432 and theactuator support plate 405 each other by the lock mechanisms 443,connecting of the both connectors 471 and 423 is completed.

Here, on an upper surface side of the base plate 432, this connector 471portion is covered with the connector cover 437. Cables (not shown)leading to the connector 471 are also routed or wired through insides ofthe connector cover 437 and the actuator housing 435, then are notexposed to the outside.

On the base plate 432, an opening 475 having a rectangular shape whosesize is similar to that of the transmission actuator-side connector 471is formed at a position where the opening 475 and the connector 471 aresymmetrical about a point. Protruding portions including the guide pin423 a of the rear side connector 423B, which are not used when mountingthe transmission actuator unit 431 on the actuator support plate 405 forthe right-hand drive vehicle, are accepted or accommodated in theopening 475. That is, the unused rear side connector 423B does notinterfere with the base plate 432.

Further, on the bottom surface of the base plate 432, prismatic-shapedprotruding leg portions 476 to protect the connector 471 are provided.The leg portions 476 include a first leg portion 476A positioned underthe motor cover 438, a second leg portion 476B and a third leg portion476C located separately from each other at right and left sides on acenter line of the base plate 432. More specifically, the first legportion 476A is arranged at a position corresponding to the rear sidelocating opening 424B of the actuator support plate 405 when mountingthe transmission actuator unit 431 on the actuator support plate 405 forthe right-hand drive vehicle, and is relatively tightly fitted into thisrear side locating opening 424B. The second leg portion 476B and thethird leg portion 476C are arranged at positions corresponding to thepair of locating cutting portions 425 provided at the right and leftside edges of the actuator support plate 405 when mounting thetransmission actuator unit 431 on the actuator support plate 405 for theright-hand drive vehicle, and are relatively tightly engaged with theselocating cutting portions 425.

With the fitting and engagement of these three leg portions 476 and therear side locating opening 424B and the locating cutting portions 425 ofthe actuator support plate 405, positioning of the transmission actuatorunit 431 with respect to the actuator support plate 405 is surelyperformed. That is, the leg portions 476 serve as guides when mountingthe transmission actuator unit 431 on the actuator support plate 405,and also contribute to improvement in rigidity of the support againstthe actuator support plate 405 after mounting the transmission actuatorunit 431 on the actuator support plate 405. Since the leg portions 476are relatively tightly fitted into and engaged with the rear sidelocating opening 424 and the locating cutting portions 425, shift (ormovement or deviation) of position of the transmission actuator unit 431due to reaction forces occurring when actuating the transmissionactuator unit 431 is suppressed.

Here, it is desirable to set a protruding length of the leg portion 476so that when mounting the transmission actuator unit 431 on the actuatorsupport plate 405, before the connector 423 and the connector 471contact or are engaged with each other, a fixing position of thetransmission actuator unit 431 is guided by the leg portions 476 gettinginto the rear side locating opening 424 and the locating cuttingportions 425.

The three leg portions 476 have the same protruding length, and thisprotruding length is greater than a protruding length of the lock pin444 and protruding lengths of the guide pin 471 a and the guide sleeve471 b of the connector 471 on the bottom surface of the base plate 432.Therefore, when putting or placing the detached transmission actuatorunit 431 on an appropriate table or stand, the transmission actuatorunit 431 can be supported by these three leg portions 476. In addition,the lock pin 444 and the connector 471 do not hit against the stand.

Furthermore, on the bottom surface of the base plate 432, a stopper pin481 (see FIG. 64) forming a stopper mechanism 482 (see FIG. 67) to lockthe selecting actuator 433 is provided at a position adjacent to thefirst leg portion 476A. This stopper pin 481 is set so as to be able toprotrude and retract along a direction orthogonal to the bottom surfaceof the base plate 432, but is normally forced in a protruding directionby a coil spring 485 (see FIG. 66) set inside the stopper mechanism 482.In a state in which the transmission actuator unit 431 is mounted on theactuator support plate 405, the stopper pin 481 contacts the uppersurface of the actuator support plate 405 and retracts by being pressedby the actuator support plate 405. That is, the stopper pin 481 has aprotruding position in a free state when the transmission actuator unit431 is detached and a retracting position when the transmission actuatorunit 431 is attached to the actuator support plate 405 and the stopperpin 481 is pressed by the actuator support plate 405. When the stopperpin 481 is at the protruding position, the internal stopper mechanism482 locks the selecting actuator 433, i.e. fixes the selecting actuator433. When the stopper pin 481 is at the retracting position, the stoppermechanism 482 releases the selecting actuator 433, i.e. brings theselecting actuator 433 to the free state.

FIGS. 66 and 67 illustrate one example of the stopper mechanism 482.Although the electric motor of the selecting actuator 433 drives a speedreducer 484 configured from a gear train through a bevel gear 483 thenthe rack shaft 441 moves forward and backward, as the stopper mechanism482, a gear 484 a in the speed reducer 484 and a nail portion 481 a ofthe stopper pin 481 are engaged. That is, when the stopper pin 481 is atthe protruding position, the nail portion 481 a of the stopper pin 481is engaged with the gear 484 a, then rotation of the speed reducer 484becomes impossible. On the other hand, when the stopper pin 481 is atthe retracting position, the nail portion 481 a of the stopper pin 481moves to a position that is separate from the gear 484 a in an axialdirection of the stopper pin 481, then free rotation of the gear 484 abecomes possible.

Therefore, when dismounting the transmission actuator unit 431 from theactuator support plate 405 and lifting the transmission actuator unit431, the stopper pin 481 protrudes by the coil spring 485, then theselecting actuator 433 is locked. Thus, the rack shaft 441 does notprotrude by gravitation. On the other hand, when mounting thetransmission actuator unit 431 on the actuator support plate 405, thelocking is automatically released, then the movement of the selectingactuator 433 becomes possible.

A protruding length of the stopper pin 481 when the stopper pin 481 isat the protruding position is set to be shorter than the protrudinglength of the three leg portions 476 on the bottom surface of the baseplate 432. Therefore, even if the dismounted transmission actuator unit431 is putted or placed on a floor etc., the locking is not released.Further, unnecessary or unintentional damage to the stopper pin 481 dueto a collision with the floor etc. is prevented.

As shown in FIGS. 48 and 49 etc., in the state in which the transmissionactuator unit 431 is mounted on the actuator support plate 405, anoutside shape of a front edge (an edge portion on the connector cover437 side) of the base plate 432 including the extending part 432 asubstantially corresponds to a shape of a front edge of the actuatorsupport plate 405. Likewise, on a rear edge side of the actuator supportplate 405, an outside shape of a rear edge (an edge portion on the motorcover 438 side) of the base plate 432 including the extending part 432 asubstantially corresponds to a shape of a rear edge of the actuatorsupport plate 405. The rear side connector 423B, which is not used forthe so-called right-hand drive vehicle, is covered with the base plate432 of the motor cover 438 section. That is, the unused rear sideconnector 423B is not exposed.

Further, in plan view, the actuator support plate 405 is located at theinner side of the main frame 315. On the other hand, both right and leftend portions of the actuator housing 435, which protrude from the subframe 316 in the vehicle width direction, are located at heightpositions that are above the main beams 315 a of the main frame 315 (seeFIG. 44 etc.). It is therefore possible to slide the movable unit 401and the transmission actuator unit 431 upward and downward or forwardand backward without interference of the main beams 315 a with theactuator housing 435. It is noted that each part is set so that even ata maximum backward position of the movable unit 401 and at a maximumforward position of the movable unit 401, the main beams 315 a do notinterfere with the actuator housing 435.

The actuator housing 435 is provided, on an upper surface 435 a thereof,with a substantially U-shaped handle 436 that can be grasped or grippedby the operator or the workman so that the operator or the workman cancarry the detached transmission actuator unit 431. This handle 436 isprovided at a position corresponding to a centroid position (a positionof the center of mass) of the entirety of the transmission actuator unit431 including the shifting actuator 434. Therefore, when lifting thetransmission actuator unit 431 through the handle 436, the transmissionactuator unit 431 does not greatly or heavily lean or tilt. Thisfacilitates carrying work and attaching-and-detaching work of thetransmission actuator unit 431 to and from the movable unit 401.

As described above, the transmission actuator unit 431 can be detachedfrom the movable unit 401 only by loosening the pair of lock mechanisms443. Conversely, the transmission actuator unit 431 can be attached(fixed) to the movable unit 401 by mounting the transmission actuatorunit 431 on the movable unit 401 and bringing the lock mechanisms 443 tothe locked state by turning the pair of lock pins 444 by hand or withfingers. Upon attaching the transmission actuator unit 431 to themovable unit 401, electric connection by the connectors 423 and 471 isestablished without external cable connecting work.

Therefore, when mounting the automatic vehicle driving device 301 in thevehicle, in a state in which the transmission actuator unit 431 remainsdismounted from the frame 311 (the movable unit 401), the frame 311 isfixed and supported above the driver's seat 302, and after that, thetransmission actuator unit 431 can be fixed to the movable unit 401 inan interior of the vehicle. Conversely, when dismounting the automaticvehicle driving device 301 from the vehicle, the transmission actuatorunit 431 can be easily detached on ahead. It is therefore possible toreadily carry the automatic vehicle driving device 301 into and out ofthe vehicle interior through a door opening of the vehicle. In the statein which the transmission actuator unit 431 is detached (dismounted),since the rack shaft 441 of the selecting actuator 433 is fixed by thestopper mechanism 482 using the stopper pin 481, handling of thedismounted transmission actuator unit 431 becomes easy. Further, sincethe rack shaft 441 does not protrude by its own weight, for instance,there is no risk that the rack shaft 441 will unintentionally protrudeand this will damage the door opening.

On the other hand, the transmission actuator unit 431 detached from themovable unit 401 can be attached to the movable unit 401 with the frontand rear of the transmission actuator unit 431 being reversed 180degrees (or with the transmission actuator unit 431 turned back to frontby 180 degrees). This can readily meet the vehicle in which theshift-lever is on a right side of the driver's seat 302, i.e. theso-called left-hand drive vehicle.

In the case of the left-hand drive vehicle in which the mountingattitude of the transmission actuator unit 431 is reversed 180 degreesfrom the mounting attitude of the transmission actuator unit 431 for theright-hand drive vehicle, as shown in FIGS. 68 and 69, the motor cover438 is located at the front side, and the connector cover 437 is locatedat the rear side. The pair of diagonally-arranged lock pins 444 of thetransmission actuator unit 431 are engaged with the diagonally-arrangedgrommets 421 which are different from those for the right-hand drivevehicle, and locking is done by the turning operation of the knobs 445.That is, the second lock pin 444B is engaged with the front side grommet421A, and the first lock pin 444A is engaged with the rear side grommet421B.

Further, the transmission actuator-side connector 471 is connected tothe rear side connector 423B of the actuator support plate 405. At thistime, the unused front side connector 423A is accepted or accommodatedin the opening 475 of the base plate 432. Thus, the unused front sideconnector 423A does not interfere with the base plate 432, and is notexposed to the outside. Also, the three leg portions 476 provided underthe base plate 432 are relatively tightly fitted into and engaged withthe front side locating opening 424A and the pair of right and leftlocating cutting portions 425 of the actuator support plate 405respectively.

Here, in either case of the mounting attitudes for the right-hand drivevehicle and for the left-hand drive vehicle, a center of the rack shaft441 of the selecting actuator 433 is located at the same positionwithout change. That is, the rack shaft 441 is always located at themiddle in a front-to-back direction of the actuator support plate 405.

[Configuration and Attachable-and-Detachable Structure of ShiftingActuator 434]

As described above, although the shifting actuator 434 is supported bythe top end portion of the rack shaft 441 of the selecting actuator 433,this shifting actuator 434 can be easily attached to and detached fromthe top end portion of the rack shaft 441. Further, the shiftingactuator 434 is configured so that a mounting attitude of the shiftingactuator 434 with respect to the selecting actuator 433 can be turnedback to front. That is, in a case where the mounting attitude of thetransmission actuator unit 431 is reversed 180 degrees according to achange from the case of the right-hand drive vehicle to the case of theleft-hand drive vehicle or vice versa, since the position of the shiftlever is located at a front side with respect to the rack shaft 441 ofthe selecting actuator 433 in many vehicle types, there is a need tochange the orientation of the shifting actuator 434 (according to whichside the grip hand 468 is positioned at a front side or a rear side). Inthe present embodiment, the reverse of the orientation of the shiftingactuator 434 in the fore-and-aft direction is easily done.

FIGS. 63 and 64 illustrate a state in which the shifting actuator 434 isdetached from the selecting actuator 433. Here, the orientation of theshifting actuator 434 (the mounting attitude of the shifting actuator434 with respect to the selecting actuator 433) in these drawingscorresponds to the case of the so-called right-hand drive vehicle shownin FIG. 43 etc.

The rack shaft 441 protruding from and retracting into the actuatorhousing 435 of the selecting actuator 433 has a prismatic shape. AnL-shaped bracket 451 is fixed to the top end portion of the rack shaft441 through a rotatably-supported joint 452. The joint 452 has arotation axis that is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the rackshaft 441, and the L-shaped bracket 451 is supported so as to be able topivot or rotate with this rotation axis of the joint 452 being a center(a pivot or a pivotal center). The L-shaped bracket 451 has arectangular mounting surface 451 a having a flat surface that isparallel to the rotation axis of the joint 452, and further has, at bothsides of this mounting surface 451 a, a first guide surface 451 b and asecond guide surface 451 c which stand vertically from the mountingsurface 451 a.

The rotation axis of the joint 452 is positioned below the rack shaft441, and a position of the mounting surface 451 a is offset downwardfrom the rotation axis of the joint 452. Therefore, the mounting surface451 a is positioned at a lower side with respect to an extension line ofthe rack shaft 441. The first guide surface 451 b and the second guidesurface 451 c extend in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis ofthe joint 452 (in other words, a direction orthogonal to the rack shaft441), and are parallel to each other.

In the middle of the mounting surface 451 a of the L-shaped bracket 451,a lock pin 455 that forms a lock mechanism 454 is formed. This lockmechanism 454 is a general-purpose screw type lock mechanism that issubstantially the same as the above-described lock mechanism. 443 to fixthe transmission actuator unit 431. The lock mechanism 454 has, at alower end of the lock pin 455, a knob 456 for a turning operation byhand or with fingers.

As illustrated in FIGS. 62 to 65, the shifting actuator 434 has abox-shaped actuator housing 461 having a rectangular bottom surface, aspeed reducer 463 accommodated in this actuator housing 461, an electricmotor 465 connected to the speed reducer 463 and a rack shaft 466, as anactuator rod, whose top end portion protrudes from an end portion of theactuator housing 461. The rack shaft 466 has a bar-shape whose crosssection, except a teeth portion, is a circular shape as a basic shape.The actuator housing 461 has a cylindrical part 461 a extending straightbackward. When the rack shaft 466 is at a retracting position, most ofthe rack shaft 466 is accommodated in this cylindrical part 461 a. Acorner part of the box-shaped actuator housing 461, which is on anopposite side to the electric motor 465, is a slanting surface (or asloping surface).

The grip hand 468 is connected to a top end of the rack shaft 466. Thisgrip hand 468 has a bifurcated fixed finger 468 a, a movable finger 468b that can open and close relative to the fixed finger 468 a and afixing screw 469 that performs an open-and-closure operation of themovable finger 468 b relative to the fixed finger 468 a and tightens andfixes the movable finger 468 b to the fixed finger 468 a. The grip hand468 is a grip hand gripping the knob or the grip of the shift lever head(all not shown). By open-and-closure adjustment of the fingers 468 a and468 b through the fixing screw 469, the grip hand 468 can grip a varietyof knobs or grips having different shapes or sizes.

The bottom surface of the actuator housing 461 is formed by a bottomplate 461 b that is relatively thick and has high rigidity. As shown inFIG. 64, this bottom plate 461 b has a rectangular shape whose long sideextends along a longitudinal direction of the rack shaft 466. A width ofa short side of the bottom plate 461 b is substantially equal to a widthof the mounting surface 451 a of the L-shaped bracket 451, i.e. adistance between the first guide surface 451 b and the second guidesurface 451 c. That is, the bottom plate 461 b has a size that can berelatively tightly fitted onto the mounting surface 451 a between thefirst and second guide surfaces 451 b and 451 c of the L-shaped bracket451. In the middle of the bottom plate 461 b, a grommet 462 having alock hole 462 a with which the lock pin 455 is engaged is provided. Thisgrommet 462 is the same as the above-mentioned grommet 421 of theactuator support plate 405. The grommet 462 forms the lock mechanism 454together with the lock pin 455.

Therefore, by mounting the actuator housing 461 on the L-shaped bracket451 and moving the lock pin 455 to a locking direction by a turningoperation of the knob 456 by hand or with fingers, the bottom plate 461b is tightly fixed to the mounting surface 451 a of the L-shaped bracket451. The shifting actuator 434 is then fixed to the L-shaped bracket451. In this fixing state, since right and left side edges of the bottomplate 461 b are engaged with or fitted to the first and second guidesurfaces 451 b and 451 c of the L-shaped bracket 451, the shiftingactuator 434 does not lean or incline to a right side or a left side.That is, the rack shaft 441 of the selecting actuator 433 and the rackshaft 466 of the shifting actuator 434 are always properly maintained inan orthogonal state. It is noted that an axial center of the rack shaft466 crosses a center of swing (or rotation) of the L-shaped bracket 451,i.e. the rotation axis of the joint 452. Therefore, the rack shaft 466having the grip hand 468 at its top end can rotate (pivot or tilt)upward and downward with its rotation center positioned on the axialcenter of the rack shaft 466 being a center (a pivot or a pivotalcenter).

Further, by performing the turning operation of the knob 456 provided ata lower surface side of the L-shaped bracket 451 to an unlockingdirection, the lock mechanism 454 is unlocked, and as shown in FIGS. 63and 64, the shifting actuator 434 can be detached from the L-shapedbracket 451. Then, by turning the detached shifting actuator 434 back tofront by 180 degrees and attaching the shifting actuator 434 to theL-shaped bracket 451 again, as shown in FIGS. 68 and 69, combination ofthe selecting actuator 433 with the shifting actuator 434 having areverse mounting attitude becomes possible.

The lock hole 462 a of the grommet 462 is positioned at a center of thebottom plate 461 b of a lower surface of the actuator housing 461, atleast at a center of the width along a direction of the short side ofthe bottom plate 461 b. Therefore, also in the case of the reversemounting attitude of the shifting actuator 434 which is set by turningthe shifting actuator 434 back to front by 180 degrees, the bottom plate461 b is relatively tightly fitted onto the mounting surface 451 abetween the first and second guide surfaces 451 b and 451 c of theL-shaped bracket 451, and the lock pin 455 is engaged with the lock hole462 a.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 59 and 60 etc., the selecting actuator 433 andthe shifting actuator 434 are electrically connected through two cables467 leading from the top end portion of the rack shaft 441 of theselecting actuator 433 to the electric motor 465 of the shiftingactuator 434. Each of the cables 467 has a minimum length required todetach the shifting actuator 434 from the L-shaped bracket 451 andreverse (or turn) the attitude of the shifting actuator 434. Therefore,basically, reversing work (or turning work) of the attitude of theshifting actuator 434 can be done without disconnecting the cables 467.If necessary, the cables 467 could be disconnected from the shiftingactuator 434.

Each of the cables 467 extends through an inside of the rack shaft 441of the selecting actuator 433, then is connected to the connector 471provided at the lower surface of the base plate 432. Therefore, a lengthof a part of the cable 467 which is exposed to the outside is kept to aminimum.

FIG. 65 is a cross section of the shifting actuator 434, cut along theaxial center of the rack shaft 466. More specifically, FIG. 65 shows across section of the shifting actuator 434 fixed to and supported by theL-shaped bracket 451 through the lock mechanism 454. The shiftingactuator 434 is a rack-and-pinion type linear-motion actuator in whichthe rack shaft 466 serving as the actuator rod moves in the vehiclelongitudinal direction by working of the electric motor 465 and thespeed reducer 463. As shown in the drawings, the speed reducer 463configured from a reduction gear train that is structured by combinationof a plurality of gears 464 is accommodated in the box-shaped actuatorhousing 461. The speed reducer 463 reduces rotation speed of theelectric motor 465. The rack shaft 466 is provided with a rack 466 ameshing with a final pinion of the gear train.

As described above, by mounting the whole transmission actuator unit 431on the movable unit 401 selectively in either of the two mountingattitudes and by changing the mounting attitude of the shifting actuator434 with respect to the selecting actuator 433 according to the mountingattitude of this the transmission actuator unit 431, the automaticvehicle driving device 301 of the present embodiment can readily meetthe so-called right-hand drive vehicle in which the shift-lever islocated on the left side with respect to the driver's seat 302 and theso-called left-hand drive vehicle in which the shift-lever is located onthe right side with respect to the driver's seat 302.

FIGS. 47 and 48 illustrate the automatic vehicle driving device 301 forthe right-hand drive vehicle, and the grip hand 468 is located at theleft side of the frame 311. Further, the grip hand 468 is located at thefront side with respect to the actuator housing 435 of the selectingactuator 433. The selecting actuator 433 and the shifting actuator 434of the transmission actuator unit 431 are combined as shown in FIGS. 59and 60.

In contrast to this, FIGS. 68 and 69 illustrate the automatic vehicledriving device 301 for the left-hand drive vehicle, and the grip hand468 is located at the right side of the frame 311. Further, the griphand 468 is located at the front side with respect to the actuatorhousing 435 of the selecting actuator 433. The selecting actuator 433and the shifting actuator 434 of the transmission actuator unit 431 arecombined with the shifting actuator 434 being set at an inverse positionas shown in the drawings.

Further, it is also possible to select the mounting attitude of theshifting actuator 434 such that the grip hand 468 is located at the rearside with respect to the actuator housing 435 of the selecting actuator433, although this drawing is omitted. For instance, the transmissionactuator unit 431 is mounted in the right-hand drive vehicle in whichthe shift lever is on the left side of the driver's seat 302 as shown inFIG. 43, then the shift lever is located on a relatively rear side withrespect to the driver's seat 302. In this case, the shifting actuator434 is combined with the selecting actuator 433 with the shiftingactuator 434 turned (or reversed) back to front, and the grip hand 468is located at a relatively rear position.

Such configuration is also applied to the case of the left-hand drivevehicle. For instance, the shifting actuator 434 can be combined withthe selecting actuator 433 with the shifting actuator 434 turned (orreversed) back to front in the left-hand drive vehicle shown in FIG. 68.

As described above, a height position or a fore-and-aft position of theselecting actuator 433 can be changed by a slide position of the movableunit 401 with respect to the frame 311. Therefore, by combination of thechange of the orientation of the shifting actuator 434 in thefore-and-aft direction with the change of the height position or thefore-and-aft position of the selecting actuator 433, the shiftingactuator 434 can meet a variety of shift lever positions.

Further, although the height position of the shift lever head generallychanges in an up-and-down direction according to the shifting operation,the shifting actuator 434 can pivot or rotate upward and downward withthe rotation axis of the joint 452 being the center (the pivot or thepivotal center). Thus, this allows the change of the height position ofthe shift lever head. A smooth shifting operation can therefore beperformed.

[Modified Example of Movable Unit 401]

FIGS. 81 to 83 show, as a modified example of the movable unit 401, themovable unit 401 having a tilt mechanism so as to be able to meet a casewhere the height position of the head of the shift lever is relativelyhigh then there is a need to operate the shift lever in an obliquedirection (for instance, a case where a short shift lever is provided onthe dashboard in front of the driver's seat).

As a structure of this movable unit 401, each of the pair of side frames403 is configured by combination of an outer side frame 403A and aninner side frame 403B. The outer side frame 403A is located at an outerside in the vehicle width direction. The outer side frame 403A has, likethe aforementioned side frame 403, a substantially triangular shapehaving three sides of 403Aa, 403Ab and 403Ac, and the upper side 403Aais fixed to the actuator support plate 405.

The inner side frame 403B is provided so as to overlap the outer sideframe 403A along an inner side surface in the vehicle width direction ofthe outer side frame 403A. The inner side frame 403B has a relativelysmall substantially triangular shape having three sides of 403Ba, 403Bband 403Bc. The slider cover plate 411 (including the two front and rearsliders 410 and the fixing screw 413) is fixed to the base 403Bb of theinner side frame 403B. Therefore, the inner side frame 403B is slidablyguided in the forward-and-backward direction by the sub beam 316 a.

The outer side frame 403A and the inner side frame 403B are pivotablyconnected at their rear vertexes through a hinge pin 486. A lock screw487 is provided at a lower vertex of the outer side frame 403A. Thislock screw 487 is screwed into a first grommet 488A or a second grommet488B that are provided at two upper and lower positions of the frontside 403Bc of the inner side frame 403B. That is, by selecting eitherone of the two grommets 488 into which the lock screw 487 is screwed, atilt angle of the outer side frame 403A with respect to the sliders 410(in other words, the sub beams 316 a guiding the movable unit 401) canbe changed.

In a state in which the lock screw 487 is screwed into the secondgrommet 488B provided at the lower side, the actuator support plate 405is basically in a horizontal attitude. Therefore, the shifting actuator434 is basically in the horizontal attitude.

In contrast to this, in a state in which the lock screw 487 is screwedinto the first grommet 488A, the actuator support plate 405 is in atilting attitude in which a height position of the front edge side ofthe actuator support plate 405 is relatively high. Therefore, theshifting actuator 434 is also in the tilting attitude. As an example,the actuator support plate 405 can be tilted to an angle of e.g. about30 degrees. With this, for instance, even in the case where the shiftlever is provided on the dashboard, a shifting operation in obliquelyupward and obliquely downward directions can be realized.

Here, in the shown example, the tilt angle can be changed to two anglelevels. However, by arranging a number of the grommets 488, the tiltangle can be further changed to multi-angle levels.

[Modified Example of Supporting Part of Shifting Actuator 434]

As described above, in the case of the transmission actuator unit 431 ofthe above embodiment, a height position of the shifting actuator 434with respect to the height position of the selecting actuator 433 isfixed. However, in order to readily meet the head positions of a varietyof shift levers, the height position of the shifting actuator 434 withrespect to the selecting actuator 433 can be changed.

FIGS. 84 to 86 illustrate a modified example of a supporting part of theshifting actuator 434. In the same manner as the above embodiment, anL-shaped bracket 451A is fixed to the top end portion of the rack shaft441 of the selecting actuator 433 through a rotatably-supported joint452A, and as shown in FIG. 84, both of the L-shaped bracket 451A and thejoint 452A are combined so as to be able to slide upward and downward.For instance, the joint 452A has guide grooves 521 extending along thevertical direction, and the L-shaped bracket 451A is provided with guiderail portions 522 extending along the vertical direction whichcorrespond to the guide grooves 521. The guide rail portions 522 areslidably engaged with the guide grooves 521, then the L-shaped bracket451A can move upward and downward relative to the joint 452A.

Further, a plunger 523 is attached to a front end surface of the joint452A, and engaging holes 524 which a tip of the plunger 523 gets intoare formed at a plurality of positions, e.g. three positions of a frontedge of the guide rail portion 522. That is, the engaging holes 524 arearranged at the three positions that are different in height position.The plunger 523 is normally forced in a direction in which the plunger523 is engaged with the engaging hole 524 by an inside spring (notshown).

FIG. 84 illustrates a state in which the L-shaped bracket 451A is at thelowest position, and the plunger 523 is engaged with the engaging hole524 arranged at the highest position. At this position, the axial centerof the rack shaft 466 of the shifting actuator 434 crosses a rotationaxis of the joint 452A. By pulling the plunger 523 with fingers of theoperator or the workman and releasing the engagement with the engaginghole 524 from this state, a height position of the L-shaped bracket 451Acan be easily changed to an upper second position or an upper thirdposition. FIG. 85 illustrates a state in which the L-shaped bracket 451Ais at the highest position, and the plunger 523 is engaged with theengaging hole 524 arranged at the lowest position.

Hence, the height position of the shifting actuator 434 with respect tothe height position of the selecting actuator 433 can be readily changedto three height levels.

[Attachable-and-Detachable Structure of Pedal Actuator 341]

As described above, the automatic vehicle driving device 301 in theembodiment has the three pedal actuators 341, i.e. the accelerator pedalactuator 341A, the brake pedal actuator 341B and the clutch pedalactuator 341C. These pedal actuators 341 are supported, through thepedal actuator supports 351, by the pedal actuator support slide rail331 fixed to the front end of the frame 311.

FIG. 74 shows details of the pedal actuator support slide rail 331located at the front end of the frame 311 and the pedal actuatorsupports 351. FIGS. 70 to 72 show details of the brake pedal actuator341B, as a typical structure or configuration of the pedal actuator 341.

The pedal actuator support slide rail 331 is shaped into a long narrowband shape extending in the vehicle width direction, and is formed of arelatively thick metal plate having rigidity. Further, for weightreduction, the unnecessary portions are cut out, and the openings areformed. The upper and lower edge portions of the pedal actuator supportslide rail 331 each have the bar-shape appearance which is semicircularin cross section. On the upper edge portion of the slide rail 331, afirst guide surface 331 a shaped into a semicylinder surface (or ahalf-round surface) and extending in the vehicle width direction isformed. On the lower edge portion of the slide rail 331, a second guidesurface 331 b shaped into a semicylinder surface (or a half-roundsurface) and extending in the vehicle width direction is formed. Thefirst guide surface 331 a and the second guide surface 331 b havesemicircular cross sections that face oppositely.

Each of the pedal actuator support 351 is molded as integral parts usinge.g. hard synthetic resin. The pedal actuator support 351 has alongitudinal rectangular shape ranging in size from an upper side to alower side of the slide rail 331 in front view (viewed from the vehiclefront side). The pedal actuator support 351 has a rectangular baseportion 351 a that overlaps a front surface of the slide rail 331, anupper wall 351 b that extends to the vehicle rear side at an upper sideof the first guide surface 331 a, a lower wall 351 c that extends to thevehicle rear side at a lower side of the second guide surface 331 b anda pair of right and left side walls 351 d. In other words, the pedalactuator support 351 is formed into a box shape whose back surfacefacing to the slide rail 331 is open. The pair of side walls 351 d eachhave a semicircular upper cutting portion 351 e that is slidably engagedwith the first guide surface 331 a and a semicircular lower cuttingportion 351 f that is slidably engaged with the second guide surface 331b. These cutting portions 351 e and 351 f are engaged with the first andsecond guide surfaces 331 a and 331 b respectively, then the pedalactuator support 351 is slidably supported by the pedal actuator supportslide rail 331.

Therefore, it is possible to easily adjust positions, in the vehiclewidth direction, of the accelerator pedal actuator 341A, the brake pedalactuator 341B and the clutch pedal actuator 341C individually in thevehicle interior so as to correspond to positions of the respectivepedals 345, 346 and 347 which are different depending on the vehicletypes. Here, the pedal actuator support 351 can be inserted or fittedonto the slide rail 331 along a longitudinal direction (the vehiclewidth direction) of the slide rail 331 from either of the both ends ofthe slide rail 331 while engaging the cutting portions 351 e and 351 fand the guide surfaces 331 a and 331 b with each other.

At a lower portion of the box-shaped pedal actuator support 351, aconnector accommodating part 351 g is formed integrally with the baseportion 351 a so as to protrude forward from the base portion 351 a. Thelower wall 351 c on the base portion 351 a side extends forward, and theconnector accommodating part 351 g has a front wall 351 h that standsupward from a front end of this lower wall 351 c and a pair of right andleft side walls 351 j. The connector accommodating part 351 g is formedinto an open box whose upper surface is open to an upper side by theselower wall 351 c, front wall 351 h and pair of side walls 351 j. Asupport-side connector 353 is accommodated in an inside space of thisconnector accommodating part 351 g. The support-side connector 353 has asimilar configuration to the aforementioned transmission actuator unitconnector 423 etc., and is structured such that a terminal strip is in afloating state to allow some position shift (or some deviation ofposition) from the other mating side. Further, the support-sideconnector 353 is provided with a guide pin 353 a and a guide sleeve 353b to guide the other mating-side connector when inserting the othermating-side connector. As shown in FIG. 74, the support-side connector353 is placed so as to face upward, namely that, as insertingdirections, the guide pin 353 a and the guide sleeve 353 b extend alongthe vertical direction.

A cable (not shown) is drawn out backward from the support-sideconnector 353, and this cable extends to the connection box 406 throughthe opening of the slide rail 331.

The side wall 351 j of the connector accommodating part 351 g is locatedat a slightly outer side in the vehicle width direction with respect tothe side wall 351 d that extends along a side edge of the base portion351 a. That is, there is a certain step between the side wall 351 d andthe side wall 351 j, and by using this step, a recessed groove 352extending along the vertical direction is formed on a side surface ofthe pedal actuator support 351. In other words, the recessed groove 352is formed into a shape that is recessed in the vehicle width directionfrom a surface of the side wall 351 j of the connector accommodatingpart 351 g. The recessed groove 352 is formed so as to extend downwardfrom an upper edge of the connector accommodating part 351 g and getinto a side surface of the connector accommodating part 351 g. Further,at an upper side with respect to the connector accommodating part 351 g,a relatively-recessed guide portion 352 a is formed so as to continue tothe recessed groove 352 by a protrusion column 351 ja that is formed byextending the side wall 351 j of the connector accommodating part 351 gin the upward direction into a long narrow shape. A bottom surface ofthe recessed groove 352 and a bottom surface of this guide portion 352 awhich continues to the bottom surface of the recessed groove 352 form apart of the side wall 351 d of the pedal actuator support 351. Further,by a side surface of the protrusion column 351 j a adjacent to the guideportion 352 a, a guide surface 352 b that continues to a side surface ofthe recessed groove 352 is formed.

The semicircular lower cutting portion 351 f slidably engaged with thesecond guide surface 331 b of the slide rail 331 is formed at the sidewall 351 j of the connector accommodating part 351 g, to be exact.

A grommet 354, which is a part of an after-mentioned lock mechanism 365for the pedal actuator 341, is provided at a middle portion on the upperwall 351 b of the pedal actuator support 351. This grommet 354 is thesame as the grommet 421 of the actuator support plate 405 and thegrommet 462 of the shifting actuator 434. The grommet 354 has a lockhole 354 a that opens upward.

As illustrated in in FIGS. 73 and 76, pedal actuator support brackets361 for the pedal actuators 341 are detachably secured to the respectivepedal actuator supports 351, and the pedal actuators 341 are supportedthrough the pedal actuator support brackets 361.

The pedal actuator support bracket 361 is shown in FIGS. 70 to 72 and75. In the same way as the pedal actuator support 351, the pedalactuator support bracket 361 is molded as integral parts using e.g. hardsynthetic resin. The pedal actuator support bracket 361 has alongitudinal rectangular shape ranging in size from the upper side tothe lower side of the slide rail 331 in front view (viewed from thevehicle front side). Basically, the pedal actuator support bracket 361has a shape that is complementary to the pedal actuator support 351 soas to form a substantially rectangular parallelepiped when the both arecombined together. As shown in FIGS. 75 and 72, the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 361 has an upper wall 361 a that is fitted onto theupper wall 351 b of the pedal actuator support 351, a pair of right andleft side walls 361 b that are fitted onto the respective side walls 351d of the pedal actuator support 351 and extend on the same planes as therespective side walls 351 j of the connector accommodating part 351 gand a front wall 361 c that connects with these upper wall 361 a andside walls 361 b. The pedal actuator support bracket 361 is shaped intoan open box whose rear side (back surface) and lower side (lowersurface) are open. The front wall 361 c is formed so as to extend on thesame plane as the front wall 351 h of the connector accommodating part351 g of the pedal actuator support 351 (so as to continue to the frontwall 351 h of the connector accommodating part 351 g of the pedalactuator support 351).

The side wall 361 b has a shape that covers the side wall 351 d of thepedal actuator support 351 which is recessed in the vehicle widthdirection with respect to the side wall 351 j of the connectoraccommodating part 351 g, i.e. a shape that corresponds to the side wall351 d of the pedal actuator support 351. In particular, the side wall361 b has a substantially rectangular protruding portion 355 formed intoa shape that protrudes downward and is complementary to the recessedgroove 352 of the pedal actuator support 351. Further, an upper portionof the side wall 361 b is formed so as to extend to the rear side on orabove the slide rail 331, and at this upper portion of the side wall 361b, a semicircular rail fitting portion 361 d that can be fitted onto thefirst guide surface 331 a of the slide rail 331 from above is formed bycutting. In the shown example, the rail fitting portion 361 d has thesame shape as that of the upper cutting portion 351 e of the pedalactuator support 351.

At a middle portion of the upper wall 361 a, fitted onto the upper wall351 b of the pedal actuator support 351, of the pedal actuator supportbracket 361, a lock pin 367 corresponding to the grommet 354 of thepedal actuator support 351 is fixed. The lock pin 367 is provided at aposition corresponding to a position of the lock hole 354 a of thegrommet 354 of the pedal actuator support 351. The lock pin 367 has, ata head portion thereof, a knob 366 for allowing a turning operation byhand or with fingers. The lock mechanism 365 formed by the lock pin 367and the grommet 354 has substantially the same structure as those of thelock mechanism 443 (the lock pin 444 and the grommet 421) for fixing thetransmission actuator unit 431 and the lock mechanism 454 (the lock pin455 and the grommet 462) for fixing the shifting actuator 434.

A metal support pin 372 to which the pedal actuator 341 is connected asdescribed later is embedded in a corner portion at a front upper side ofthe pedal actuator support bracket 361. This support pin 372 is locatedat a position that does not interfere with the pedal actuator support351, and arranged along the vehicle width direction. A head 372 apositioned on one end of the support pin 372 and having a cylindricalsurface is exposed at the one corner portion in the vehicle widthdirection of the pedal actuator support bracket 361.

A bracket-side connector 363 corresponding to the support-side connector353 of the pedal actuator support 351 is accommodated in an inside spaceof the pedal actuator support bracket 361. This bracket-side connector363 has the same configuration as those of the aforementionedconnectors, and is structured such that a terminal strip is in afloating state to allow some position shift (or some deviation ofposition) from the other mating side. Further, the bracket-sideconnector 363 is provided with a guide pin 363 a and a guide sleeve 363b to guide the other mating-side connector when inserting the othermating-side connector. The bracket-side connector 363 is set so as toface downward and face to the support-side connector 353.

FIG. 76 illustrates a state in which the pedal actuator support bracket361 is combined with the pedal actuator support 351. In this combinedstate, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped appearanceis formed by the pedal actuator support bracket 361 and the pedalactuator support 351. That is, a lower edge of the front wall 361 c ofthe pedal actuator support bracket 361 and an upper of the front wall351 h of the connector accommodating part 351 g are fitted to eachother, and the side walls 361 b of the pedal actuator support bracket361 are fitted onto the side walls 351 d of the pedal actuator support351, and further the upper wall 361 a of the pedal actuator supportbracket 361 is fitted onto the upper wall 351 b of the pedal actuatorsupport 351. An outer edge of each side wall 361 b of the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 361 is fitted to an upper edge of the side wall 351 j ofthe connector accommodating part 351 g of the pedal actuator support351, a periphery of the recessed groove 352 and a side edge of theprotrusion column 351 ja serving as the guide portion 352 a. Also, therail fitting portion 361 d at the upper portion of the side wall 361 bis fitted onto the first guide surface 331 a of the slide rail 331.

By engaging (locking) the upper-side lock mechanism 365 formed by thelock pin 367 and the grommet 354, the pedal actuator support bracket 361and the pedal actuator support 351 are tightened relatively in thevertical direction, and the both that are complementary to each other inshape firmly and closely contact each other. Therefore, with engagement(locking) of the lock mechanism 365, the pedal actuator support bracket361, i.e. the pedal actuator 341, is firmly supported by the pedalactuator support 351.

It is noted that a position and a size of each rail fitting portion 361d of the pedal actuator support bracket 361 are set so that when thepedal actuator support bracket 361 is pulled relatively downward by thelocking of the lock mechanism 365, the rail fitting portion 361 d ispressed hard against the first guide surface 331 a of the slide rail331. With this, slide of the pedal actuator support bracket 361 and thepedal actuator support 351 along the slide rail 331 becomes impossible,and the pedal actuator support bracket 361 and the pedal actuatorsupport 351 are fixed in the vehicle width direction. In other words,sizes of the upper cutting portion 351 e and the lower cutting portion351 f of the pedal actuator support 351 are set so that the slide of thepedal actuator support 351 with respect to the slide rail 331 isallowed. In contrast thereto, each size is set so that in a state inwhich the pedal actuator support bracket 361 and the pedal actuatorsupport 351 are fixedly connected by the locking of the lock mechanism365, the first and second guide surface 331 a and 331 b of the sliderail 331 are tightened in the vertical direction by and between the railfitting portion 361 d and the lower cutting portion 351 f. Therefore,after connecting the pedal actuator 341 to the pedal actuator support351 together with or through the pedal actuator support bracket 361, aposition of the pedal actuator 341 (the pedal actuator support bracket361) is adjusted to a proper position along the vehicle width direction,and the lock mechanism 365 is locked, then the pedal actuator supportbracket 361 and the pedal actuator support 351 are fixed together, andat the same time, the whole pedal actuator 341 is fixed to the sliderail 331.

That is, the one lock mechanism 365 has two functions; one is a lockmechanism to fix the position of the pedal actuator 341 that is slidablein the vehicle width direction, and the other is a lock mechanism tofixedly connect the pedal actuator support 351 and the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 361 that are detachable and separated into two.

When mounting the automatic vehicle driving device 301 above thedriver's seat 302, the pedal actuators 341 are previously connected tothe respective pedal actuator support brackets 361, and these pedalactuators 341 including the pedal actuator support brackets 361 arefixed to the frame 311 in the vehicle interior. In a case of the aboveconfiguration or structure, since the pedal actuator support brackets361 are temporarily supported by the respective pedal actuator supports351, fixing or connecting work is easily done in the narrow vehicleinterior.

The pedal actuator support bracket 361 and the pedal actuator support351 are configured to be combined with each other in the up-and-downdirection (the vertical direction), and the operator or the workmanmounts the pedal actuator support bracket 361 on the pedal actuatorsupport 351 from above by or while fitting the pair of protrudingportions 355 of the pedal actuator support bracket 361 into therespective recessed grooves 352 of the pedal actuator support 351 alongthe guide portions 352 a. Basically, the pedal actuator support bracket361 is mounted on the pedal actuator support 351, and the protrudingportions 355 get into (or are fitted into) the recessed grooves 352 fromabove, also the rail fitting portions 361 d at the upper portion of thepedal actuator support bracket 361 are fitted onto the first guidesurface 331 a of the slide rail 331. At the almost same time, the lockpin 367 of the lock mechanism 365 is inserted into the lock hole 354 aof the grommet 354, and these are temporarily engaged with each other.

Since a load of the heavyweight pedal actuator 341 acts on the supportpin 372 provided at the upper portion of the pedal actuator supportbracket 361, in the state in which each protruding portion 355 providedat a lower portion of the pedal actuator support bracket 361 is fittedinto the recessed groove 352, the moment acting forward with anengagement portion (a first engagement portion) of the protrudingportion 355 and the recessed groove 352 being a supporting point occurs.This moment is borne at the upper side by an engagement portion of therail fitting portion 361 d and the first guide surface 331 a or anengagement portion of the lock pin 367 and the lock hole 354 a as asecond engagement portion. Therefore, even if the operator or theworkman mounts the pedal actuator support bracket 361 on the pedalactuator support 351 and takes his/her hands off the pedal actuator 341,the pedal actuator 341 does not fall, but is temporarily supported bythe slide rail 331. Hence, the operator or the workman can easily fixthe pedal actuator 341 to the slide rail 331, i.e. the frame 311, whileadjusting the position of the pedal actuator 341 in the narrow vehicleinterior.

By mounting the pedal actuator support bracket 361 on the pedal actuatorsupport 351 along the vertical direction as described above, thesupport-side connector 353 of the pedal actuator support 351 and thebracket-side connector 363 of the pedal actuator support bracket 361 areconnected. Although positioning of the both connectors 353 and 363 isperformed by fitting of the guide pins 353 a and 363 a and the guidesleeves 353 b and 363 b, it is preferable to set a protruding length ofeach protruding portion 355 so that before the both connectors 353 and363 contact each other, i.e. before the guide pins 353 a and 363 a andthe guide sleeves 353 b and 363 b contact each other, a tip of theprotruding portion 355 is inserted into the recessed groove 352 (seeFIG. 77). With this, the guide pins 353 a and 363 a and the guidesleeves 353 b and 363 b are engaged in a state in which the positioningis already done to some extent, thereby surely preventing damage to theconnectors 353 and 363.

[Configuration and Attitude Adjustment Mechanism of Pedal Actuator 341]

A configuration and an attitude adjustment mechanism of the pedalactuator 341 will be described with reference to FIGS. 70 to 73. Thepedal actuator 341 is also a rack-and-pinion type linear-motionactuator. The pedal actuator 341 has a long narrow actuator housing 378that slidably supports and accommodates therein a rack shaft 380 servingas an actuator rod and a motor housing 381 that is fixed to a sidesurface of a top end portion of the actuator housing 378. A speedreducer and an electric motor are accommodated in the motor housing 381.Here, since a required output capacity of the electric motor isdifferent depending on the pedal actuators 341, a size of the motorhousing 381 is also different depending on the pedal actuators 341. Inthe shown embodiment, the accelerator pedal actuator 341A has a returnspring 382 formed from a coil spring and arranged parallel to the rackshaft 380. With this, for instance, upon a power cut, there is nooccurrence of unnecessary or unintentional depression of the acceleratorpedal. The brake pedal actuator 341B is not provided with the returnspring 382. Except for this different point, the accelerator pedalactuator 341A and the brake pedal actuator 341B have substantially thesame structure. As described later, a structure of the clutch pedalactuator 341C is different from those of the accelerator pedal actuator341A and the brake pedal actuator 341B in some points.

Since the pedals 345, 346 and 347 are located at relatively lowpositions as compared with a height of the seat cushion 303, therespective actuator housings 378 (in other words, the respective rackshafts 380) slope such that their top end sides facing to the pedals345, 346 and 347 are located at low positions with respect to their baseend sides located close to the frame 311. The rack shafts 380 have abar-shape whose cross section is a circular shape, and top end portions,which protrude from the respective actuator housings 378, of the rackshafts 380 press the pedals 345, 346 and 347.

For the accelerator pedal actuator 341A and the brake pedal actuator341B, a cylindrical pressing member 386 (or a cylindrical columnarpressing member 386) is fixed to the top end of each rack shaft 380, andthe pressing members 386 of the accelerator pedal actuator 341A and thebrake pedal actuator 341B press the pedals 345 and 346.

As shown in FIGS. 72, 73 and 75, the actuator housing 378 is supportedby the pedal actuator support 351 through the above-described pedalactuator support bracket 361, a link arm 368, a slide bracket 369 and asupport arm 370.

The slide bracket 369 is a bracket that supports the actuator housing378 at the lower surface side of the actuator housing 378 so as to beable to slide the actuator housing 378 forward and backward. The slidebracket 369 has a fixing screw 379 to fix the actuator housing 378having been slid and position-adjusted to the slide bracket 369. Thatis, the actuator housing 378 has a guide slit 371 formed so as to beopen along an axial direction (the forward-and-backward direction) ofthe pedal actuator 341 on the lower surface of the actuator housing 378,and a shaft portion of the fixing screw 379 penetrates the guide slit371 and is screwed into a pad 369A provided inside the actuator housing378. Therefore, in a loosened state of the fixing screw 379, the pad369A is loosened, and the actuator housing 378 can be slid relative tothe slide bracket 369. On the other hand, by tightening the fixing screw379, the actuator housing 378 is fixed to the slide bracket 369. Thefixing screw 379 has, at a head portion thereof, an L-shaped lever part,and a tightening operation is possible by hand or with fingers.Therefore, it is possible to easily adjust a fore-and-aft position ofeach actuator housing 378 according to the positions of the pedals 345,346 and 347 in the vehicle.

As shown by a sectional view (a sectional view taken along a D-D line inFIG. 71) of FIG. 78, a cylindrical bearing portion 374 is formed at arear end portion of the slide bracket 369, and the support arm 370 isrotatably or pivotably connected through the bearing portion 374. Thatis, the support arm 370 has a first cylindrical portion 370 a rotatablyfitted in the bearing portion 374, a lever portion 370 b extending fromthe first cylindrical portion 370 a to a lower side of the slide bracket369 and a second cylindrical portion 370 c extending in an axialdirection at an opposite side to the first cylindrical portion 370 awith respect to the lever portion 370 b. In the shown embodiment, thefirst cylindrical portion 370 a and the second cylindrical portion 370 care formed so that their axial centers are aligned and the bothcylindrical portions 370 a and 370 c have the same diameter.

The link arm 368 is a member having, at both end portions thereof,cylindrical shaft linkage portions. Cylindrical one end portion 368 a ispivotably connected to (or fitted onto) an outer periphery of the head372 a of the support pin 372 of the pedal actuator support bracket 361,and cylindrical other end portion 368 b is pivotably connected to (orfitted onto) an outer periphery of the second cylindrical portion 370 cof the support arm 370. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 78,the link arm 368 is adjacent to an axial direction outer side of thelever portion 370 b of the support arm 370, and the other end portion368 b of the link arm 368 is fitted onto the outer periphery of thesecond cylindrical portion 370 c.

A rod portion 368 c in the middle of the link arm 368 is formed into ashape (a half-separate shape) that can be divided into two. In the sameway as the rod portion 368 c, the cylindrical end portions 368 a and 368b are each divided along their radial lines, more specifically, into asubstantially C-shape. At a middle portion of the rod portion 368 c, afixing screw 373 is provided so as to tighten the both C-shaped endportions 368 a and 368 b in their diameter directions. The fixing screw373 has, like the fixing screw 379 of the slide bracket 369, an L-shapedlever part for a tightening operation by hand or with fingers.

In a loosened state of the fixing screw 373, the pair of end portions368 a and 368 b of the link arm 368 can pivot or rotate with respect tothe respective shaft members (the head 372 a of the support pin 372 andthe second cylindrical portion 370 c of the support arm 370) placed atinner sides of the end portions 368 a and 368 b. Therefore, a pivotalheight position of the slide bracket 369 with the support pin 372 beinga center can be freely changed, and also the support arm 370 freelypivots or rotates relative to the link arm 368.

In contrast thereto, in a tightened state of the fixing screw 373, thepair of end portions 368 a and 368 b of the link arm 368 are fixed tothe respective shaft members (the head 372 a of the support pin 372 andthe second cylindrical portion 370 c of the support arm 370) placed atthe inner sides of the end portions 368 a and 368 b. Therefore, an angleof the link arm 368 with respect to the pedal actuator support bracket361 is fixed, and also an angle of the support arm 370 with respect tothe link arm 368 is fixed. At this time, a tightening force is notexerted on the first cylindrical portion 370 a placed at an innerperiphery of the bearing portion 374 of the support arm 370. Therefore,the slide bracket 369 is pivotably connected to the support arm 370 andthe link arm 368.

An angle of the slide bracket 369 (i.e. a tilting attitude of the pedalactuator 341) with respect to the support arm 370 and the link arm 368is finally adjusted and fixed by a variable-length rod 383 using a screwmechanism provided between a top end of the lever portion 370 b of thesupport arm 370 and a front end portion of the slide bracket 369 (seeFIG. 76).

Also as illustrated by a sectional view of FIG. 79, the variable-lengthrod 383 has a pair of screw rods 384A and 384B having screw threadswhose directions are opposite to each other, an adjustment nut 385having, at a center thereof, a screw hole into which top end portions ofthe two screw rods 384A and 384B are screwed and a pair of lock nuts385A and 385B adjacent to both end surfaces of the adjustment nut 385. Abase end of the screw rod 384A is pivotably linked with a linkageportion 370 d of the top end of the lever portion 370 b, and a base endof the screw rod 384B is pivotably linked with a linkage portion 369 aof the front end portion of the slide bracket 369. The adjustment nut385 and the lock nuts 385A and 385B are each formed into a disc shapehaving a knurled periphery for allowing a turning operation by hand orwith fingers. The variable-length rod 383 is a mechanism that is similarto the so-called turnbuckle. By combining the pair of opposing screws,an entire length of the variable-length rod 383 (i.e. a distance betweenthe two linkage portions 370 d and 369 a) changes according to theturning operation of the adjustment nut 385. After adjusting the angleby the adjustment nut 385, by tightening the lock nuts 385A and 385B sothat the lock nuts 385A and 385B are contiguous to the adjustment nut385, an unintentional rotation of the adjustment nut 385, i.e. anunintentional loosening of the adjustment nut 385, is stopped orrestrained.

As can easily be understood, since the variable-length rod 383corresponds to one side of a triangle, if the entire length of thevariable-length rod 383 is increased, a tilt angle of the pedal actuator341 becomes gentle (i.e. a position of the top end of the rack shaft 380becomes high). On the other hand, if the entire length of thevariable-length rod 383 is decreased, the tilt angle of the pedalactuator 341 becomes steep (i.e. the position of the top end of the rackshaft 380 becomes low). Since the length of the variable-length rod 383can be continuously changed by the screw mechanism, the tilt angle ofthe pedal actuator 341 can also be continuously variably adjusted.

Here, a relative angle of the slide bracket 369 with respect to thesupport arm 370 changes according to change in length(extending-and-retracting change) of the variable-length rod 383. At acylindrical base portion of the support arm 370, a stopper mechanism 375formed from a stopper piece 375 a provided at the support arm 370 sideand a pair of stopper pieces 375 b and 375 c provided at the slidebracket 369 side so as to be arranged on opposite sides of the stopperpiece 375 a (so as to sandwich the stopper piece 375 a) is provided.This stopper mechanism 375 limits change of the angle of the slidebracket 369 relative to the support arm 370 to within a predeterminedrange.

As described above, the pedal actuator 341 is detachably connected tothe frame 311 of the automatic vehicle driving device 301, morespecifically, the pedal actuator support slide rail 331, through thepedal actuator support bracket 361. The position adjustment of the pedalactuator 341 along the vehicle width direction is done by the slide rail331. Then, by the adjustment of a tilt angle of the link arm 368, aheight position of a rear end portion side of the pedal actuator 341 canbe changed, and by the variable-length rod 383, the tilting attitude ofthe pedal actuator 341 can be adjusted along a plane orthogonal to thevehicle width direction, and further the adjustment in theforward-and-backward direction of the pedal actuator 341 through theslide bracket 369 can be possible. Accordingly, by these combination, itis possible to meet the pedal position and an inclination or a gradientof the pedal which are different depending on the vehicle types.

Here, a cable leading to the electric motor of the pedal actuator 341 isrouted through an inside of the actuator housing 378, and its end isdrawn out of the actuator housing 378 from an end portion, on the linkarm 368 side, of the actuator housing 378 and connected to thebracket-side connector 363 through an inside of the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 361.

Therefore, by attaching the pedal actuator support bracket 361 to thepedal actuator support 351, electrical connection through the connectors353 and 363 is established at the same time. Because of this, there isno external cable and no connector between the pedal actuator support351 and the pedal actuator 341.

As described above, since the pedal actuator 341 is easily attached(fixed) and detached (dismounted), when mounting the automatic vehicledriving device 301 in the vehicle, in a state in which the pedalactuator 341 remains dismounted from the frame 311 (the slide rail 331),the frame 311 is fixed and supported above the driver's seat 302, andafter that, the pedal actuator 341 can be fixed in the interior of thevehicle. Conversely, when dismounting the automatic vehicle drivingdevice 301 from the vehicle, the pedal actuator 341 is detached onahead, then the frame 311 can be carried out of the vehicle. It istherefore possible to readily carry the automatic vehicle driving device301 into and out of the vehicle interior through the door opening of thevehicle. In addition, each position adjustment of the pedal actuators341 relative to the pedals 345, 346 and 347 can be easily performed inthe vehicle interior after the pedal actuators 341 are fixed to theframe 311.

As shown in FIG. 51, on a lower surface of each pedal actuator support351, i.e. a lower surface of the lower wall 351 c, the relatively smallLED light 376 is provided. The LED light 376 is set so as to be directedobliquely downward. In other words, the LED light 376 is configured soas to light an area around a top end portion of the pedal actuator 341supported by the pedal actuator support 351.

The LED light 376 is basically a light used when connecting the pedalactuator 341 and doing the position adjusting work of the pedal actuator341 after carrying the automatic vehicle driving device 301 into thevehicle interior. The LED light 376 is powered by a secondary batterymounted inside the connection box 406, more specifically, by a capacitoras a power supply. The capacitor serving as the secondary battery isautomatically recharged through a charge circuit in the connection box406 when an external power supply is connected to the connection box 406via the main connector 407. In other words, the capacitor is repeatedlyrecharged during test drive using the automatic vehicle driving device301 without requiring any specific operation.

During the mounting work of the automatic vehicle driving device 301into the vehicle interior, generally, the cable from the external powersupply is not connected to the main connector 407. However, in thiscondition, by turning on the LED light 376 using the secondary battery,an area around the pedal located at a front side of the driver's seatwhere it is darkest can be lit. This thus improves workability andoperability.

As mentioned above, the light switch 409 c is provided on the displaypanel 409 on the upper surface of the connection box 406, and an ON/OFFoperation of the LED light 376 is performed by this light switch 409 c.Since the LED light 376 is located close to the support-side connector353 of the pedal actuator support 351, wiring routing at the pedalactuator support 351 is simple.

[Modified Example of Pedal Actuator Support Slide Rail 331]

As described above, a height position of a rear end portion (a baseportion) of the pedal actuator 341 can be changed by the angleadjustment of the link arm 368. However, if a height position of thepedal actuator support slide rail 331 with respect to the frame 311 isvariably adjustable, it is possible to meet a variety of vehicle typesmore flexibly.

FIGS. 87 to 89 show a modified example in which the height position ofthe pedal actuator support slide rail 331 is adjustable. In thisstructure, a substantially rectangular metal rail supporting bracketplate 332A whose vertical size is greater than that of the slide rail331 is provided as a separate member from a base body part of the pedalactuator support slide rail 331 instead of the aforementioned railsupporting brackets 332. The rail supporting bracket plate 332A is fixedto the front ends of the main frame 315, more specifically, the frontend surfaces of the main beams 315 a, then the open end at the frontends of the main frame 315 is closed (see FIGS. 88 and 89).

The pedal actuator support slide rail 331 is fixed to the railsupporting bracket plate 332A with a plurality of screws 377A. On therail supporting bracket plate 332A, in order to be able to verticallychange the height position (a fixing position) of the pedal actuatorsupport slide rail 331, screw holes 377B are arranged at a plurality ofpositions whose height positions are different. Therefore, if necessary,the slide rail 331 is detached, and the height position of the sliderail 331 can be changed.

FIGS. 87 to 89 illustrate a state in which the slide rail 331 is fixedto a lowest position.

[Configuration of Clutch Pedal Actuator 341C]

In the vehicle with the manual transmission, in general, the clutchpedal 347 moves along an arc and its stroke (a depressing operationamount) is relatively large. In the present embodiment, by takingaccount of such characteristics of the clutch pedal 347, the clutchpedal actuator 341C differs from the other two pedal actuators 341A and341B in details. Different points will be described below with referenceto FIGS. 73 and 75.

One of the different points is structures of linkage portions by thelink arm 368 and the support arm 370 between the pedal actuator supportbracket 361 and the pedal actuator 341. In the case of the clutch pedalactuator 341C as well, its actuator housing 378 is supported by thepedal actuator support 351 through the pedal actuator support bracket361, the link arm 368, the slide bracket 369 and the support arm 370.Main components such as the pedal actuator support bracket 361, the linkarm 368, the slide bracket 369 and the support arm 370 are not differentfrom those of the accelerator pedal actuator 341A and the brake pedalactuator 341B.

However, in the case of the clutch pedal actuator 341C, a sleeve (notshown) is interposed between an inner peripheral surface of the one endportion 368 a of the link arm 368 and the head 372 a of the support pin372 of the pedal actuator support bracket 361. Because of this, even ifthe fixing screw 373 of the link arm 368 is tightened, the link arm 368is not fixed to the support pin 372, but remains pivotable relative tothe support pin 372. That is, the pedal actuator support bracket 361 andthe link arm 368 of the clutch pedal actuator 341C are pivotablyconnected. The other end portion 368 b of the link arm 368 and thesupport arm 370 are fixed by the tightening of the fixing screw 373, asmentioned above. That is, an angle between the link arm 368 and thelever portion 370 b is maintained at a fixed angle.

Further, as shown in FIG. 76 etc., between the linkage portion 370 d ofthe top end of the lever portion 370 b and the linkage portion 369 a ofthe slide bracket 369, instead of the aforementioned variable-length rod383, a fixed-length rod member 388 is connected. With this, the anglebetween the support arm 370 and the slide bracket 369, i.e. an anglebetween the support arm 370 and the actuator housing 378, is alwaysconstant.

Therefore, the clutch pedal actuator 341C is pivotably supported as awhole with the support pin 372 of the pedal actuator support bracket 361being a center. Further, by the adjustment through the fixing screw 373,a position of the other end portion 368 b of the link arm 368, i.e. aposition (mainly, a height position) of a connecting point between thelink arm 368 and the actuator housing 378, can be changed.

In the present embodiment, commonality of the main components such asthe link arm 368 is realized between the clutch pedal actuator 341C andthe other two pedal actuators 341A and 341B.

A second different point is that the clutch pedal actuator 341C has, atthe top end of the rack shaft 380, a pivotal plate 387 instead of theaforementioned pressing member 386. That is, as shown in FIGS. 73 and47, the pivotal plate 387 is connected to the top end of the rack shaft380 so as to be able to tilt or rotate. This pivotal plate 387 is placedon a pedal part of the clutch pedal 347 so as to overlap the pedal part,and fixed to the pedal part with a proper jig or a fixing tool (both notshown). The pivotal plate 387 is pivotably supported by a pin 387 a soas to have a rotation axis (or a pivot) along the vehicle widthdirection.

In general, an inclination of a pedal surface of the clutch pedal 347relatively considerably changes according to the stroke (depression) ofthe clutch pedal 347. More specifically, in a state in which the clutchpedal 347 is not depressed, the pedal surface faces obliquely upward.Then, as the clutch pedal 347 is depressed, the pedal surface is almostvertical. Further, in extreme cases, conversely, the pedal surface facesobliquely downward.

If the pressing member 386 merely contacts the pedal surface in the samemanner as the accelerator pedal actuator 41A and the brake pedalactuator 41B, there is a risk that the pressing member 386 will fall offthe pedal surface due to the angle change of the pedal surface, and anaccurate stroke cannot be obtained.

In contrast to this, in the case of the clutch pedal actuator 341C inthe present embodiment, since the pivotal plate 387 provided at the topend of the rack shaft 380 is fixed to the pedal part, the clutch pedalactuator 341C can surely perform the pressing operation of the pedalpart regardless of the angle change of the pedal surface.

Further, although a height position of the pedal part changes accordingto the rotation or pivotal movement of the clutch pedal 347 with a leverpin provided at an upper portion of the clutch pedal 347 being a center(a pivot), this change is absorbed by the link arm 368 and the pedalactuator support bracket 361 being linked so as to rotate or pivot.Since the free angle change of the actuator housing 378 is allowed, therack shaft 380 can surely press the pedal part to a limit of the stroke(a limit of the depression of the pedal part).

In other words, the accelerator pedal actuator 341A and the brake pedalactuator 341B press the accelerator pedal 345 and the brake pedal 346respectively as the linear motion. In contrast, the clutch pedalactuator 341C presses the clutch pedal 347 while pivoting.

In the embodiment described above, the actuator housing 378 is supportedfrom the lower side of the actuator housing 378 by the pedal actuatorsupport bracket 361 through the slide bracket 369 and the link arm 368,and an extension line of the rack shaft 380 passes or extends above thepedal actuator support bracket 361. Therefore, a direction of a loadacting on the pivoting pedal part becomes a proper direction. Further,the motor housing 381 protruding downward from the actuator housing 378is not excessively lowered during the stroke, then interference with thevehicle body floor 306 does not easily occur.

Further, the height position of the slide rail 331 supporting the pedalactuator 341 can be lowered, then as shown in FIG. 44 etc., the sliderail 331 can be set at a height position close to the front end of theseat cushion 303. This point is also applied to the accelerator pedalactuator 341A and the brake pedal actuator 341B.

It is noted that in a case where the stroke (a depression amount) of theclutch pedal 347 is small or where the pressing member 386 can press thepedal part by a structure of the clutch pedal 347, the three pedalactuators 341 could have the same structure.

Conversely, the structure like the clutch pedal actuator 341C of theembodiment could also be applied to the accelerator pedal actuator 341Aand/or the brake pedal actuator 341B.

[Application to Vehicle with Automatic Transmission]

As described above, the pedal actuators 341 can be fixed to the frame311 in the vehicle interior after carrying the frame 311 into thevehicle interior. For instance, in a case where the automatic vehicledriving device 301 is applied to the vehicle with the automatictransmission having no clutch pedal 347, only the accelerator pedalactuator 341A and the brake pedal actuator 341B, except the clutch pedalactuator 341C, are attached.

With this, as shown in FIG. 80, the automatic vehicle driving device 301used for the vehicle with the automatic transmission is obtained.

As described above, since the pedal actuator 341 is easily attached(fixed) and detached (dismounted), even when a test vehicle on thechassis dynamometer is changed from the vehicle with the manualtransmission to the vehicle with the automatic transmission, theautomatic vehicle driving device 301 can readily meet this change.

[Working and Effect]

In the same way as the above first embodiment, by sliding the movableframe 402 of the automatic vehicle driving device 301 of the secondembodiment forward and backward along the slanting sub beams 316 a ofthe sub frame 316, it is possible to variably and continuously(seamlessly) adjust the height position of the transmission actuatorunit 431 so as to correspond to the height position of the shift lever.

The height position adjustment of the transmission actuator unit 431 canbe performed with the automatic vehicle driving device 301 remainingmounted above the driver's seat 302, and the adjustment can be readilyperformed so as to optimize a positional relationship with the shiftlever after mounting the automatic vehicle driving device 301 in thevehicle.

More specifically, by performing the turning operation of the fixingscrew 413 serving as a lock mechanism by hand or with fingers, theheight position can be easily adjusted. Since only a component of forcealong a slope angle of the sub beam 316 a acts on the fixing screw 413serving as the lock mechanism, a tightening force required to lock isrelatively small, and position shift (or movement) of the movable frame402 in the downward direction due to gravitation does not easily occur.

The actuator support plate 405 mounting thereon the transmissionactuator unit 431 is maintained in a horizontal attitude even if themovable frame 402 slides in the up-and-down direction (in theforward-and-backward direction). Therefore, the transmission actuatorunit 431 does not tilt or slope.

Even in the case of the structure having the tilt mechanism shown inFIGS. 81 to 83, the tilt angle of the actuator support plate 405 is notaffected by the up-and-down slide of the movable frame 402. The movableframe 402 has the tilt mechanism, thereby meeting a variety of vehicletypes.

Further, especially in the second embodiment, the pair of guide rails320 are fixed to the lower surfaces of the sub beams 316 a with theirrail surfaces facing toward the lower side. Generally, rigidity andguiding accuracy in the width direction, i.e. in the direction along thefixing surface, of the guide rail 320 in the guide mechanism structuredby the combination of the guide rail 320 and the slider 410 are high.Therefore, rigidity of the support of the movable frame 402 supportingthe transmission actuator unit 431 in the vehicle width direction can behigh.

Moreover, in the second embodiment, the main frame 315 surrounding anoutside of the movable frame 402 receives the tension of the belt 325and the reaction forces from the legs 312 etc., whereas the sub frame316, which is different from the main frame 315, bears the load of themovable unit 401 including the transmission actuator unit 431, andslidably guides the movable unit 401. Therefore, deformation etc. of thesub beam 316 a due to the tension of the belt 325 is prevented, andaccuracy of position of the transmission actuator unit 431 is kept high.

Additionally, in the second embodiment, since the connection box 406 initself does not move, there is no movement of the cable that isexternally drawn and connected the main connector 407. The connectionbox 406 and the second connection box 404 are connected through theflexible cable 400 having a certain length, and thus the slidingoperation of the movable unit 401 is not hindered.

1.-9. (canceled)
 10. A support structure of a transmission actuator ofan automatic vehicle driving device comprising: a frame having, at anupper end thereof, a seat back abutting part and at least at a middleportion thereof, a pair of right and left straight beams and extendingobliquely downward from the seat back abutting part toward a vehiclefront side; a movable frame located at an inner side of the frame andslidably supported by the pair of beams along a slope of the beams; alock mechanism structured to fix the movable frame, having been slid, tothe frame; and a transmission actuator supported on the movable frameand configured to be able to operate a shift lever along at least avehicle longitudinal direction.
 11. The support structure of thetransmission actuator of the automatic vehicle driving device as claimedin claim 10, wherein the transmission actuator has a first actuatorsupported on the movable frame and moving in a vehicle width direction;and a second actuator supported by a movable part of the first actuatorand moving in the vehicle longitudinal direction, wherein the shiftlever is connected to a movable part of the second actuator.
 12. Thesupport structure of the transmission actuator of the automatic vehicledriving device as claimed in claim 10 wherein the beams are eachprovided with a guide rail extending along the beams, and the movableframe is provided with sliders slidably combined with the respectiveguide rails.
 13. The support structure of the transmission actuator ofthe automatic vehicle driving device as claimed in claim 12, wherein theguide rails are fixed to respective lower surfaces of the beams withtheir rail surfaces facing toward a lower side.
 14. The supportstructure of the transmission actuator of the automatic vehicle drivingdevice as claimed in claim 12, wherein the lock mechanism is formed fromfixing screws that press the guide rails.
 15. The support structure ofthe transmission actuator of the automatic vehicle driving device asclaimed in claim 10, wherein the frame includes a main frame having, atan upper end thereof, the seat back abutting part and extendingobliquely downward from the seat back abutting part toward the vehiclefront side; and a sub frame located at an inner side of the main frame,and the beams are formed by the sub frame.
 16. The support structure ofthe transmission actuator of the automatic vehicle driving device asclaimed in claim 10, wherein a connection box is provided at a front endportion of the frame, and a second connection box is provided at themovable frame, and these two connection boxes are connected through aflexible cable.
 17. The support structure of the transmission actuatorof the automatic vehicle driving device as claimed in claim 10, whereina support plate settled in a horizontal attitude is fixed to the movableframe, and the transmission actuator is fixed to an upper surface of thesupport plate.
 18. The support structure of the transmission actuator ofthe automatic vehicle driving device as claimed in claim 17, wherein themovable frame has a tilt mechanism structured to change an angle of thesupport plate.